School Education - APTET - Permission to conduct S - Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) exclusively for in-service teachers appointed prior to 2011 in view of the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme court in Civil Appeal No. 1385 of 2025, dated: 01.09.2025 - Accorded.
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According to the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in Civil Appeal No. 1385/2025, in-service teachers who were recruited prior to the enactment of the RTE Act, and having more than five years of service to retire on superannuation, as on 01.09.2025 i.e., the date of the above orders of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Civil Appeal No. 1385/2025, must qualify the TET within a period of two years. Consequently, teachers appointed prior to 2011, who were not required to possess TET qualification at the time of their appointment, are now required to qualify in TET within the stipulated period.
Govt., vide reference 2nd cited, issued guidelines for
conducting Andhra Pradesh State Teacher Eligibility Test (APTET), wherein
Rule-9.1 prescribed the procedure for in-service Teachers.
Further, while disposing of the Review Petitions arising
out of the aforesaid judgment
in Civil Appeal No. 1385/2025, the Hon'ble Supreme Court, by order dated:29.05.2026, declined
to interfere
with
the requirement of acquiring the TET qualification. However, taking
note of the practical difficulties expressed by various States and stakeholders, the Hon'ble Apex Court extended the deadline to three years (from
01.09.2025
to 31.08.2028) for compliance up to 31.08.2028 and further directed the concerned authorities to conduct Teacher
Eligibility Test (TET) examinations periodically, preferably twice every year, interspersed with
In order to facilitate compliance with the directions of the Hon'ble
Supreme Court and to support the
experienced in-service teachers, the Hon'ble MLCs have represented the Government, vide reference 4th cited, to consider for conducting Special Teacher
Eligibility Test (TET) exclusively for teachers
appointed prior to 2011, in addition to the regular TET examination.
Conducting such special TETs two or three times during the compliance period would
provide adequate opportunities for the eligible teachers to qualify without undue hardship.
Accordingly, the Director of School Education, vide reference 5th cited, has submitted necessary proposal to the Government, with regard to conducting Special
Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) for in-service teachers appointed prior to 2011
in view of the judgment
of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Civil Appeal No. 1385 of 2025, dated 01.09.2025.
Government, after careful examination, hereby accord permission to the DSE to conduct Special Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) exclusively for in service teachers appointed prior to 2011, besides the regular TET (both for teacher trainees and the in-service teachers) as usual, to enable them to obtain the TET qualification before 31.08.2028, in compliance with the deadline stipulated by the Hon'ble Supreme Court.
The Director of School Education, is therefore, requested to take further necessary
action accordingly, in the matter.
J.SYAMALA RAO I.A.S PRINCIPAL SECRETARY
TO GOVERNMENT