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Central Teacher Eligibility Test  (CTET) :  Preparatory Course by Distance Education

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BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE

One of the most urgent and important things India needs is good teachers. No country can move ahead without good teachers. And good teachers are hard to come by. Fortunate and blessed are those who get good teachers. Good teachers are like diamonds; they are forever.

Teaching career aspirants need to pass Teacher Eligibility Test after doing B.Ed. and D.Ed. Passing TET is one the eligibility criteria for recruitment.  The National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) declared that that one of the essential qualifications for a person to be eligible for appointment as a teacher in any of the schools is that he/ she should pass the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) which will be conducted by the appropriate Government in accordance with the Guidelines framed by the NCTE.  The rationale for including the TET as a minimum qualification for a person to be eligible for appointment as a teacher is that it would bring national standards and benchmark of teacher quality in the recruitment process; it would induce teacher education institutions and students from these institutions to further improve their performance standards; it would send a positive signal to all stakeholders that the Government lays special emphasis on teacher quality.  The Ministry of Human Resource Development, Govt. of India has entrusted the responsibility of conducting the Central Teacher Eligibility Test (CTET) to the Central Board of Secondary Education.

The implementation of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 requires the recruitment of a large number of teachers across the country in a time bound manner. In spite of the enormity of the task, it is desirable to ensure that quality requirement for recruitment of teachers is not diluted at any cost. It is therefore necessary to ensure that persons recruited as teachers possess the essential aptitude and ability to meet the challenges of teaching at the primary and upper primary level.

The CTET shall apply to schools of the Central Government (KVS, NVS, Tibetan Schools, etc) and schools under the administrative control of UT of Chandigarh and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

CTET may also apply to the unaided private schools, who may exercise the option of considering the CTET.

Schools owned and managed by the State Government/local bodies and aided schools shall consider the TET conducted by the State Government. However, a State Government can also consider the CTET if it decides not to conduct the State TET. (State governments too will conduct their TET. The Govt. of Maharashtra has declared that TET will be conducted.) One major advantage of TET is that it makes teacher recruitment transparent.

The first CTET was held on 26.6.2011.  The CTET is presently being conducted annually. The Validity Period of CTET qualifying certificate for appointment will be seven years for all categories. There is no restriction on the number of attempts a person can take for acquiring a CTET Certificate. A person who has qualified CTET may also appear again for improving his/her score.

Structure and Content of CTET

All questions in CTET test will be Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs), each carrying one mark, with four alternatives out of which one answer will be correct. There will be no negative marking.  

There will be two papers of CTET. 
(i)Paper I will be for a person who intends to be a teacher for classes I to V. 
(ii)Paper II will be for a person who intends to be a teacher for classes VI to VIII.

Note: A person who intents to be a teacher for both levels (classes I to V and classes VI to VIII) will have to appear in both the papers (Paper I and Paper II).

Paper I (for classes I to V): Duration of examination - one-and-a-half hours

Structure and Content (All Compulsory)  :      Total  150 MCQs    150 Marks

 (I) Child Development and Pedagogy               30 MCQs     30 Marks
(ii) Language I                                                30 MCQs      30 Marks
(iii) Language II                                               30 MCQs      30 Marks
(iv) Mathematics                                             30 MCQs      30 Marks
(v) Environmental Studies                                30 MCQs      30 Marks
Paper II (for classes VI to VIII): Duration of examination - one-and-a-half hours

Structure and Content:

 (i) Child Development & Pedagogy (compulsory) 30 MCQs       30Marks 
(ii) Language I compulsory)               30 MCQs       30Marks
(iii) Language II (compulsory)            30 MCQs       30Marks
(iv) (a) For Mathematics and Science teacher: 

          Mathematics and Science                 60 MCQs       60Marks
     (b) For Social Studies/Social Science Teacher:

         Social Science                                 60 MCQs       60Marks
    (c) For any other teacher � either (a) or (b)

ELIGIBILITY for appearing in the CTET: Minimum Qualifications for Classes I-V: Senior Secondary (or its equivalent) with at least 50% marks and passed or appearing in final 2–year Diploma in Elementary Education (or its equivalent) ORSenior Secondary (or its equivalent) with at least 45% marks and passed or appearing in final 2–year Diploma in Elementary Education (or its equivalent), in accordance with the NCTE (Recognition Norms and Procedure). For more information on eligibility visit: www.ctet.nic.in / www.cbse.nic.in.

Minimum Qualifications for Classes VI-VIII:  B.A. /B.Sc and passed or appearing in final 2–year Diploma in Elementary Education* (or its equivalent) OR B.A. /B.Sc. with at least 50% marks and passed or appearing in 1–year Bachelor in Education (B.Ed). OR B.A. /B.Sc. with at least 45% marks and passed or appearing in 1–year Bachelor in Education (B.Ed), in accordance with the NCTE (Recognition Norms and Procedure). A diploma/degree course in teacher education recognized by the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) only shall be considered. However, in case of Diploma in Education (Special Education) and B.Ed. (Special Education), a course recognized by the Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI) only shall be considered. B.com. students too can take CTET. A decision has been taken that candidates appearing for CTET can also opt for Sanskrit as one of their options in languages.

The next CTET is scheduled to be held on 29th January 2012.

How to prepare for the CTET?

Whether you appear for this CTET or state TET the fundamentals of preparation will remain the same. this being a content test (based on what you learnt in your teacher training course) you need to go back and master the contents thoroughly. Understand key theories, concepts, methods, etc. It is like an objective test of your B.Ed. and D.Ed. Searching questions are asked to check whether you have insightful understanding of the fundamentals. It is like a competitive exam. You must pay attention to speed and accuracy. Solve as many as papers as possible. Go beyond text books and read latest developments. As all universities are adopting new syllabus for B.Ed. and D.Ed. the old candidates need to update their knowledge which is quite challenging. Studying right material in a right way (keeping in view the competitive nature of the test) is a key factor in cracking the CTET. Be sure, CTET/TET aims at removing the grain from the chaff.

The author is director of Career Development Centre and could be reached at almeida.prakash@gmail.com

For details visit: www.ctet.nic.in / www.cbse.nic.in

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