TET Certificate Validity Extended for Lifetime: Education Minister

TET Certificate Validity has been officially extended for a lifetime by the Union Education Ministry. Earlier, the validity of TET certificates was for a fixed duration of three to seven years, varied from state to state.

The Union Ministry of Education on June 3, 2021, had officially extended the validity of the qualifying certificate of the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) to a lifetime. The TET certificate validity extension is effective from 2011 onwards. The announcement regarding this was made by Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank'.

The Minister also stated that the respective States/UTs will take necessary action to revalidate or issue fresh TET certificates to those candidates whose period of 7 years has already expired.

The move is considered a ‘positive step’ that will lead to increased employment opportunities for candidates who aspire to become teachers. Amid this pandemic situation, the decision comes as a relief for aspirants who were worried about the lapse of their TET certificates.

The NCTE Guidelines dated February 11, 2011, laid down that the TET will be conducted by the State Governments and the TET Certificate validity was 7 years from the date of passing TET. Qualifying the CTET or TET is one of the essential qualifications for candidates to be eligible for an appointment as a teacher in schools.

Earlier in October 2020, the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) had proposed to extend the validity of CTET and TET certificate to lifetime. The decision was taken during the 50th Meeting of the NCTE's General Body.

What does the TET Validity Extension imply?

The extension of validity implies that the candidates who have qualified the CTET exam or state TET exam once and obtained the eligibility certificate will not be required to reappear again in their lifetime. However, those who want to improve their TET scores can appear again for the exam.

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