Samuel Merigala By

Express News Service

CHENNAI: The State government has stopped paying salaries of over 1,500 teachers in government-aided schools for failing to pass the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) within the stipulated time.

The move has angered the teaching fraternity who demand an immediate payment of salaries and more opportunities for teachers to clear the test.

The government passed a government order on November 16, 2012, making the Teacher Eligibility Test mandatory for further appointments and said teachers who appointed in 2011, would be given five years to clear the test. This was extended to seven years and the deadline ended on March 31.

When TET was introduced, it was decided that it would be conducted twice every year. Which means the Directorate of Government Examinations should have conducted 14 tests since 2012. But TET has been conducted only four times, thereby denying teachers appointed in 2011, sufficient chances.

“The government suddenly told us we have to clear TET a few months after we were appointed but it has not been conducting the same on a regular basis. Many teachers including myself, would have cleared it by now if it were conducted regularly,” said a teacher from a government-aided school in Alandur.

Some teachers claimed it was unreasonable to expect them to clear a test that was introduced only after their appointment.

“I was appointed almost a year before the TET was introduced. Why shouldn’t teachers who joined before the test was introduced, be exempted from it,” argued a teacher from an aided school in Chrompet, claiming that there were assurances from the government about exemptions before this sudden decision to stop their salaries.

The TETs are known to be stringent, with only 0.3 per cent of candidates passing the test when it was introduced in 2012 and following relaxations, it witnessed a 3 per cent pass rate. President of the Tamil Nadu Teachers Association P K Ilamaran said that expecting teachers who have been instrumental in producing results in one subject for the last eight years, to be able to answer questions in other subjects, is unreasonable.

“Teachers would have concentrated on the subject they’re handling for the last eight years. It is unfair to let their fate be decided by their knowledge in other subjects. How can you expect a Tamil Teacher to know geography,” he argued, demanding immediate payment of salaries to teachers and exempting them from the test. Currently, only salaries of teachers in government aided schools have been stopped. However, there are over 1,000 teachers who have failed to adhere to this criteria of passing within seven years in government schools.

Principal Secretary, School Education Department, Pradeep Yadav, was not available for comment.