Eligibility, Exam. Pattern for Teacher Eligibility Test (TET), Guidelines, Syllabus
The implementation of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory
Education (RTE) Act, 2009 requires the recruitment of a large number of teachers
across the country in a time bound manner. Inspite of the enormity of the task, it is
desirable to ensure that quality requirement for recruitment of teachers are not diluted
at any cost. It is therefore necessary to ensure that persons recruited as teachers
possess the essential aptitude and ability to meet the challenges of teaching at the
primary and upper primary level.
In accordance with the provisions of sub-section (1) of section 23 of the Right
of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, the National Council
for Teacher Education (NCTE) has laid down the minimum qualifications for a person
to be eligible for appointment as a teacher in class I to VIII, vide its Notification dated
August 23, 2010. A copy of the Notification is attached at Annexure 1. One of the
essential qualifications for a person to be eligible for appointment as a teacher in any
of the schools referred to in clause (n) of section 2 of the RTE Act is that he/she
should pass the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) which will be conducted by the
appropriate Government.
Eligibility :
The following persons shall be eligible for appearing in the TET:
- specified in the NCTE Notification dated 23rd August 2010.
- A person who is pursuing any of the teacher education courses (recognized by the NCTE or the RCI, as the case may be) specified in the NCTE Notification dated 23rd August 2010.
- The eligibility condition for appearing in TET may be relaxed in respect of a State/UT which has been granted relaxation under sub-section (2) of section 23 of the RTE Act. The relaxation will be specified in the Notification issued by the Central Government under that sub-section.
Structure and Content of TET
There will be two papers of the TET. Paper I will be for a person who intends to be a teacher for classes I to V. Paper II will be for a person who intends to be a teacher for classes VI to VIII. A person who intends to be a teacher either for classesI to V or for classes VI to VIII will have to appear in both papers (Paper I and Paper II).
Paper I (for classes I to V)
- No. of MCQs – 150
- Duration of examination: one-and-a-half hours
Structure and Content (All Compulsory)
| Sr No | Paper | MCQs | Marks |
| 1 | Child Development and Pedagogy | 30 | 30 |
| 2 | Language I | 30 | 30 |
| 3 | Language II | 30 | 30 |
| 4 | Mathematics | 30 | 30 |
| 5 | Environmental Studies | 30 | 30 |
Nature and standard of questions
While designing and preparing the questions for Paper I, the examining body shall take the following factors into consideration:
- The test items on Child Development and Pedagogy will focus on educational psychology of teaching and learning relevant to the age group of 6-11 years. They will focus on understanding the characteristics and needs of diverse learners, interaction with learners and the attributes and qualities of a good facilitator of learning.
- The Test items for Language I will focus on the proficiencies related to the medium of instruction, (as chosen from list of prescribed language options in the application form).
- The Language II will be from among the prescribed options other than Language I. A candidate may choose any one language from the available language options and will be required to specify the same in the application form. The test items in Language II will also focus on the elements of language, communication and comprehension abilities.
- The test items in Mathematics and Environmental Studies will focus on the concepts, problem solving abilities and pedagogical understanding of the subjects. In all these subject areas, the test items shall be evenly distributed over different divisions of the syllabus of that subject prescribed for classes I–V by the appropriate Government.
- The questions in the tests for Paper I will be based on the topics of the prescribed syllabus of the State for classes I–V, but their difficulty standard, as well as linkages, could be upto the secondary stage.
Paper II (for classes VI to VIII);
- No. of MCQs – 150
- Duration of examination : one-and-a-half hours
Structure and Content
| Sr No | Paper | MCQs | Marks |
| 1 | Child Development and Pedagogy | 30 | 30 |
| 2 | Language I | 30 | 30 |
| 3 | Language II | 30 | 30 |
(4) (a) For Mathematics and Science teacher : Mathematics and Science – 60
MCQs of 1 mark each
(b) For Social studies teacher : Social Studies - 60 MCQs of 1 mark each
(c) for any other teacher – either 4(a) or 4(b)
While designing and preparing the questions for Paper II, the examining body shall take the following factors into consideration:
- The test items on Child Development and Pedagogy will focus on educational psychology of teaching and learning, relevant to the age group 11-14 years. They will focus on understanding the characteristics, needs and psychology of diverse learners, interaction with learners and the attributes and qualities of a good facilitator of learning.
- The test items for Language I will focus on the proficiency related to the medium of instruction, as chosen from list of prescribed options in the application form.
- The Language II will be a language other than Language I. The person may choose any one language from among the available options and as in the specified list in the application form and attempt questions in the one indicated by the candidate in the application form by him. The Test items in Language II will also focus on the elements of language, communication and comprehension abilities.
- The test items in Mathematics and Science, and Social Studies will focus on the concepts, problem solving abilities and pedagogical understanding of these subjects. The test items of Mathematics and Science will be of 30 marks each. The test items shall be evenly distributed over different divisions of the syllabus of that subject as prescribed for classes VI-VIII by the appropriate government.
- The questions in the tests for Paper II will be based on the topics of the prescribed syllabus of the State for classes VI-VIII but their difficulty standard as well as linkages could be upto the senior secondary stage.
Qualifying marks
A person who scores 60% or more in the TET exam will be considered as TET pass. School managements (Government, local bodies, government aided and unaided)
(a) may consider giving concessions to persons belonging to SC/ST, OBC, differently abled persons, etc., in accordance with their extant reservation policy;
(b) should give weightage to the TET scores in the recruitment process; however, qualifying the TET would not confer a right on any person for recruitment/employment as it is only one of the eligibility criteria for appointment.
Frequency of conduct of TET and validity period of TET certificate
11 The appropriate Government should conduct a TET at least once every year. The Validity Period of TET qualifying certificate for appointment will be decided by the appropriate Government subject to a maximum of seven years for all categories. But there will be no restriction on the number of attempts a person can take for acquiring a TET Certificate. A person who has qualified TET may also appear again for improving his/her score.
Note: There will be no negative marking.
