SCs judgment on TET: Stalin requests Modi to amend RTE Act, NCTE Act

In the wake of a Supreme Court judgment which ruled that all in-service teachers who have not passed the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) will have to acquire the qualification within two years to continue in service, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Tuesday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He requested the PM to amend the RTE Act, 2009 and NCTE Act 1993 to ensure that the teachers who were in service on August 23, 2010 were duly protected. The retrospective application of TET to certain groups has created a “significant disruption of long-settled service rights, an administrative impossibility for the State, and poses a serious risk of destabilising the functioning of the school education system.”

Seeking the PM’s support in resolving an “urgent and significant matter affecting lakhs of teachers across the country”, including a substantial number in Tamil Nadu, Mr. Stalin referred to the recent apex court judgment on September 1 this year regarding TET. Noting that National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) initially exempted teachers appointed before August 23, 2010, from new qualification requirements like the TET, “this subsequent interpretation of RTE Act by the Supreme Court has made TET compulsory even for these existing teachers, superseding the earlier exemption.

“Consequently, these teachers are now obliged to pass the TET within two years or face termination of their employment, leading to significant administrative and personal hardship. Such alteration of service conditions and disruption of their legitimate expectation of promotion after appointment certainly violate their rights. This directly impacts a very large section of the teachers who were fully eligible, properly qualified, and duly recruited under the statutory rules in force at the time of their appointment,” Mr. Stalin contended.

In Tamil Nadu, about four lakh teachers fell into this category, he said and contended: “These teachers had satisfied all academic and professional qualifications prescribed at the time, were recruited through valid and rigorous processes, and entered service many years before the introduction of TET in 2011. The retrospective application of TET to this group, both for continuation in service and for eligibility for promotions, creates a significant disruption of long-settled service rights, an administrative impossibility for the State, and poses a serious risk of destabilising the functioning of the school education system.”

The large-scale consequences of retrospective enforcement were evident across the country, he said. “Replacing such a vast number of teachers is not feasible for any State, given recruitment cycles, availability of qualified candidates, and service conditions in rural and remote areas. Further, depriving long-serving teachers of promotional avenues solely on account of a qualification introduced long after their appointment results in disproportionate hardship and stagnation, despite decades of service and experience. Lakhs of teachers across the country will thus be affected due to this interpretation of Section 23 of the RTE Act. The disruption from such an interpretation also has direct implications for the constitutional right to education under Article 21-A.”

In view of the contentions, Mr. Stalin requested the Prime Minister to instruct the Union Ministry of Education to take necessary steps to suitably amend Section 23 of the RTE Act, 2009, and Section 12A of the NCTE Act, 1993. Such amendments alone can ensure that teachers who were in service as on August 23, 2010, were “duly protected, remain eligible for promotions, and continue to contribute without disruption to the education of our children.”