Shillong, October 27: The Meghalaya state government has decided to file a review petition in the Supreme Court against its judgment passed on September 1, 2025, which made the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) mandatory for all in-service teachers, regardless of their length of service.
Education Minister Lahkmen Rymbui said the government’s contention is that the judgment has a retrospective effect and that they want the Supreme Court to exempt teachers appointed before the Right to Education (RTE) Act came into effect. He stated that the judgment is having a retrospective effect, and the government seeks to exempt teachers appointed before the RTE Act. He added that after the RTE Act came into force, the subsequent notification of the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), which is the regulatory authority for elementary and primary education, set the standards for teachers, and the government has no objection to those standards.
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Rymbui said that around 32,000 teachers will be affected by the judgment, meaning they have to clear the TET within two years. He expressed concern that not all teachers may be able to clear the TET within the given timeframe. The education minister clarified that teachers who have already cleared the Meghalaya Teacher Eligibility Test (MTET) or the Central Teacher Eligibility Test (CTET) are exempt from appearing in any other TET exams and that their services are secure.
Regarding the recommendation of the state education commission to phase out underqualified teachers, Rymbui said it depends on interpretation since the government has been recruiting teachers as per the norms set by the NCTE. He emphasized that the Supreme Court’s judgment has mandated that in-service teachers pass the TET within two years, but if the court modifies its order, the situation would be different.
He added that once teachers meet all the required criteria, they are considered qualified.
(Newmai News Network)