Teachers appointed before Aug 2010 demand exemption from eligibility test

With the uncertainty over their future, thousands of teachers, who are required to clear the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) in the wake of a recent Supreme Court judgment, the Haryana School Teachers Association (HSTA) has sought the BJP MP’s intervention.

They association has urged Bhiwani-Mahendergarh MP Dharambir Singh to raise the issue in Parliament and seek intervention of the Centre to provide them relief.

The association office-bearers, including district president Ajit Rathi and secretary Sumer Arya, submitted a memorandum to MP Dharambir Singh, demanding the intervention of the higher authorities to restore full exemption from the TET for all teachers appointed before August 23, 2010.

The teachers have sought the relief after the recent Supreme Court ruling, which necessitated the TET for teacher eligibility. The association said the ruling has threatened the livelihood of thousands of teachers

who entered the service before 2010.

The HSTA members said, if necessary, the government should file a review petition in the Supreme Court so that the rights of senior teachers can remain protected. The association members said taking this step in time will secure the future of thousands of teachers across the country, including Haryana.

“Those who got appointed before this cutoff date never thought that they would have to clear a test mid-career,” said Sumer Arya. “Many of us have served for 15-30 years and the condition to either clear TET or lose our job and promotion is unfair.” Rathi added that this retrospective application of TET eligibility has created widespread anxiety among senior teachers as many fear removal from service if they are unable to clear the TET.

The association members pointed out that before 2010, appointments were made under older norms and TET did not exist at the time. “Many states subsequently allowed pre-2010 teachers to continue without TET for years,” he said. The memorandum argues that the new SC verdict has created a sudden crisis for senior teachers across Haryana and elsewhere.

The HSTA urged the MP to raise the matter in the ongoing Winter Session of Parliament during Zero Hour, Special Mention, Calling Attention or a Private Member’s Bill and move for an amendment to Section 23 of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (RTE Act), so that teachers appointed before TET became mandatory are given exemption from clearing the test. They also asked the government to take the issue up with the Prime Minister, Education Minister and the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education; and if needed, file a review petition in SC, the memorandum stated. The teachers raised the demand in the wake of the SC’s September 1, 2025 judgment (Civil Appeal No. 1385/2025), where a bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Manmohan held that TET qualification is mandatory for appointment and for in-service teachers seeking promotion. The court ruled that those in service with more than five years left until retirement must pass TET within two years (by September 1, 2027) if they want to remain in service; those with less than five years left may continue without TET till superannuation, but will remain ineligible for promotions unless they clear the test.

The HSTA argues that this retrospective change raised uncertainty over the fate of veteran teachers whose terms were governed by earlier rules, and that only a legislative amendment can come to their rescue.