Teachers Eligibility Test: Pass percentage drops

ONLY TWO out of 100 aspirants in the state, who want to teach in English-medium schools, meet the minimum qualifying criterion for the job, revealed the result of the Teachers Eligibility Test (TET) declared on Tuesday. However, it was no surprise, as the results of the TET conducted by the Maharashtra State Council of Examination (MSCE) have been consistently poor.

The Maharashtra TET, which tests maths, science and language skills of teachers and teaching aspirants, is mandatory under the Right to Education (RTE) Act. The Act was adopted in the state in 2013, as per which, the TET is only compulsory on appointments made thereafter.
To pass the examination, candidates need to score 60 per cent, following which their certificates are valid for seven years. If candidates wish to improve the scores, they can reappear.

The test is conducted in three languages — Marathi, English and Urdu. Without clearing it, the teachers would not be eligible for a permanent job or a higher salary, despite securing a Bachelor’s Degree in Education (B Ed) and a Diploma in Education (D Ed).

Recently, the state government had issued a Government Resolution (GR), which had given teachers in aided schools three attempts to clear TET or risk losing their jobs.

Over 2.76 lakh aspirants, including teachers and teaching aspirants, appeared for the TET on July 22. The TET comprises Paper I and II, where the first is for candidates who wish to teach Class I to V, the second is for those applying to teach Class VI to VIII.

This year, of the 1,58,250 candidates who had appeared for the TET in all three mediums, 4.27 per cent cleared Paper I, while 2.30 per cent i.e. 2,732 of 1,18,561 candidates cleared Paper II.

Results for the Marathi exam are usually the ‘best’.

However, this year, 4.06 per cent cleared Paper I and 2.47 per cent cleared Paper II. It means that 6,529 of the 1,42,051 candidates cleared Paper I and 2,696 of 1,08,972 candidates cleared Paper II.

In the exams conducted for English-medium schools, 2.02 per cent i.e. 104 of 5,952 candidates passed Paper I, while 0.44 per cent i.e. only 23 of 5,187 candidates passed Paper II.

While, in Urdu-medium exams, 1.18 per cent i.e. 130 of 11,047 candidates, cleared Paper I and barely 13 of 4,402 candidates cleared Paper II, making it the exams with the least pass percentage — 0.30.

According to officials, over the years, the results for TET have been consistently poor in the state, indicating either a difficult paper, stringent correction standards or poor quality of candidates appearing for the tests.

The results declared in January 2016 saw only 5 per cent teachers passing the TET, while in 2015, the pass percentage was around 4.6.
Sukhdev Dere, commissioner of MSCE, denied that the paper setting was tough, saying that it required rational thinking, which is why it was considered difficult. “We are used to taking exams based on a fixed syllabus and rote learning, but TET is not a memory test. These are multiple-choice questions and the subjects covered in Paper I are from Class I to XII, while for Paper II it is Class 1 to graduation,” he said.

“We have questions based on application of knowledge and child psychology, as the exam is meant to gauge if the candidates are fit for teaching. It is meant for both aspiring teachers and those currently teaching on a contractual basis and looking for permanent posts. Though the paper was not tough, passing it wasn’t easy either,” he added.