Teachers in Punjab need to go back to classrooms. A whopping 94 per cent of them have flunked the State Teacher’s Eligibility Test (TET) this year.
Nearly 88 per cent of the State teachers have failed to crack the teachers’ eligibility test (TET) Paper I, while 96 per cent failed in TET Paper II.
Out of the total 1,66,720 candidates appeared in both Papers for the state-level examination on December 13, only 8,793 candidates have managed to pass it, with total 5.27 percent aggregate pass percentage of both exams.
While Paper I — for those who intended to be a teacher for Classes I to V — was cleared by 12.01 per cent candidates, Paper II — for those who intended to be a teacher for classes VI to VIII — was passed by mere 3.36 per cent of the candidates appeared for the test.
The result, declared on Wednesday, was indicative of the level of teachers available for the state education department in Punjab. Notably, the TET was not only taken by the aspirant teachers, but also by those who are already working as teachers.
The TET was introduced by the Central Government to improve the standards in teaching across the country, with both the central and the state governments conducting the test to achieve Right to Education (RTE) goals.
The test, held for the first time in 2011, is aimed at recruiting quality teachers possessing essential aptitude and ability to meet the challenges of teaching at the primary and upper primary levels.
Conversely, considering the results of the TET this year, the RTE’s goals of having quality teachers seems to be a distant dream.
In the test, conducted for 6675 vacant posts by the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB), a total of 36,974 candidates appeared for Paper I, and only 4442 students managed to pass with 12.01 percent pass percentage. Similarly, 1,29,746 candidates appeared for Paper-II, out of which, only 4351 have passed the paper.
Both the paper carries 150 marks, comprising of multiple-choice questions, with no negative marking. For candidates of general category, passing percentage is 60, while it is as 55 per cent for the candidates belonging to SC, ST, or other reserved categories owing to five per cent concession.
“The exam is based on national curriculum framework. All graduates, including BA, BSc, BCom, etc are eligible to take the test.”
“All BEd graduates need to pass this exam to work as a teacher,” an education department official told The Pioneer.
In Paper I, subjects like child development and pedagogy, mathematics, environmental studies and two languages. For Paper II, the subjects are other than child development and pedagogy and the two languages, Mathematics and Science are compulsory for teachers of these subjects, for Social Studies or Social Science teacher, Social Science is the subject, and for any other teacher, it could be mathematics, science, or social science.
“The results are bit worrisome...but the state government is making efforts to improve the teaching standards in the state. Education minister is himself very serious in this regard,” said the official while pointing at the need to streamline the teaching system.
Only a day before, Education Minister Daljeet Singh Cheema had summoned 186 teachers, teaching Classes X and XII, who have shown poor performance by delivering 80 to 100 percent result failure in board examinations.
Out of these, 32 teachers have shown worst result with 100 percent result failure, four teachers ranging between 95 to 99 percent, 15 teachers with average 90 to 94 percent result failure and average 80 to 89 percent students failed in their examinations taught by 135 teachers.
The state education department has also prepared a list of total 3107 “poor performers” school teachers delivering less than 50 percent result on the basis of Class X and XII results of their students since 2011.