Chennai: The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly on Tuesday unanimously passed a special resolution urging the Central Government to amend the Right to Education Act and grant complete exemption from the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) to teachers appointed before August 23, 2010.
Moving the resolution in the Assembly, School Education Minister A Rajmohan said as many as 3.28 lakh teachers in Tamil Nadu had been affected by the mandatory TET requirement. He said teachers who had entered service before the TET norms came into force should not be compelled to clear the examination retrospectively.
The Minister said the State government had been consistently taking up the issue in view of the difficulties faced by teachers who were appointed and had been serving in schools long before the eligibility test became mandatory. He urged the Centre to make the necessary amendments to the relevant provisions of the Right to Education Act to protect the service interests of such teachers.
According to the resolution, teachers appointed before August 23, 2010, should be given a complete exemption from appearing for the TET, as they were recruited under the rules and qualification requirements prevailing at the time of their appointments.
The resolution received broad support across party lines, with members of the DMK, AIADMK, PMK, CPI, CPI(M) and Congress backing the State government’s demand. Members who participated in the discussion stressed the need to address the concerns of teachers who could face uncertainty over their service despite having been appointed before the TET requirement came into effect.
With no member opposing the move, Speaker JCD Prabhakar put the special resolution to a voice vote. The House subsequently adopted it unanimously.
The resolution formally calls upon the Central Government to amend the relevant provisions of the Right to Education Act and provide a complete exemption from the TET for teachers appointed before August 23, 2010.
The unanimous passage of the resolution marks a significant show of political consensus in Tamil Nadu on the issue, with parties across the political spectrum joining hands to seek protection for thousands of teachers affected by the eligibility requirement.