Worried about jobs, Bengal teachers challenge SC’s TET mandate, threaten to agitate

The Supreme Court’s September directive, which requires all current and future teachers to pass the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET), has sparked widespread concern among teachers' unions and associations in West Bengal over potential mass disqualifications and staff shortages.

Mandatory test

The Supreme Court directive, aimed at standardising teacher qualifications in accordance with the Right to Education Act, requires all in-service teachers with more than five years of service left to pass the TET within two years or face possible termination or compulsory retirement with applicable benefits.

Those who have only five years of service remaining are exempt from this requirement. They, however, will not be eligible for promotions unless they clear the TET.

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The order affects nearly 150,000 primary school teachers in the state.

‘Unfair order’

Teachers and unions, however, protest the order and say it is unfair on those who were recruited based on their qualifications and experience.

“While the move aims to improve teaching quality, applying the TET requirement retroactively is unfair to teachers who were recruited based on their qualifications and experience,” said Paramita Das, district secretary of the North 24 Parganas unit of the Usthi United Primary Teachers' Welfare Association (UUPTWA).

“Moreover, current data suggest it could worsen existing structural shortages in West Bengal’s school system,” she told The Federal.

Many serving teachers have not cleared TET when they were appointed, as their appointment predates the requirement.

Force retirements may trigger staff crunch

If a large number of teachers fail to clear the TET within the stipulated grace period, there is a real risk that they will be forced to retire or be removed from service, an official of the West Bengal Board of Primary Education (WBBPE) said. He noted that the board has made the test mandatory for all in-service teachers in compliance with the Supreme Court directive.

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The official acknowledged that this could lead to serious teacher shortages, particularly in rural and remote schools, given the state's alarmingly low TET pass rate, which falls well short of the level needed to replace outgoing staff.

Low TET pass rate

Out of 2.73 lakh aspirants, just 6,754 cleared the test in the recent TET exam, the result of which was declared last month, the official pointed out.

The meagre 2.47 pass percentage casts doubt on the system’s ability to meet both current and future staffing needs, he warned, echoing the concerns expressed by the teachers’ association.

This alarmingly low success rate limits the supply of new teachers, pointed out Israrul Haque Mondal, president of Bengal Madrasah Education Forum.

The shortage of TET-qualified teachers in West Bengal has been further aggravated by the WBBPE’s failure to conduct the recruitment exam last year due to ongoing legal complications. Although the results of the 2023 examination were finally released on September 24 this year, the delay has only widened the gap in teacher availability.

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Even before the Supreme Court directive, the state was grappling with a serious teacher shortage. Government data shows there are currently at least 13,421 vacancies in primary schools, 35,726 in secondary and higher secondary schools for assistant teachers, and 4,249 in special education.

With the new TET mandate now in place, these vacancy numbers could rise sharply if a significant number of current in-service teachers fail to qualify within the stipulated period.

Teachers rally forces, move court

In response to growing fears of mass disqualifications and deepening staff shortages, teachers’ associations have begun mobilising both legal action and protest campaigns to safeguard job security and press for alternative solutions.

The All-Bengal Primary Teachers’ Association (ABPTA) on Thursday (October 9) officially filed a review petition in the apex court, challenging the mandatory implementation of TET for in-service teachers.

Represented by advocate Firdous Samim, the petition argues that the directive unfairly penalises teachers who were appointed when TET was not a requirement, and whose competence has already been demonstrated through years of classroom experience.

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The ABPTA has also publicly appealed to the West Bengal government and education department to actively join the legal challenge, asserting that this issue is not just about the livelihoods of teachers but the long-term stability of the state’s education system. The association has emphasised that enforcing such a directive could severely disrupt pupil-teacher ratios and harm student learning across government schools.

Teachers' bodies have also called for unity across organisational lines and are urging fellow educators to rally behind the legal fight.

Unions offer alternatives to TET

Many leaders believe that if the review petition does not yield relief, coordinated street protests may soon follow.

The UUPTWA will hit the streets in Kolkata on October 15, demanding a review of the SC directive, said Das.

The Shikshanuragi Oikya Mancha, another association, wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, and State Education Minister Bratya Basu, seeking their intervention for the review of the court’s order.

It argued that mandating fresh tests for teachers who already cleared competitive recruitment exams and hold degrees like B.Ed/PTT amounts to a “gross injustice.”

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It proposed that there should be targeted training workshops, refresher courses, or professional development programmes instead of re-examinations, especially for experienced in‑service teachers, Anriban Mukherjee of the Mancha said.