In accordance with the provisions of sub-section (1) of Section 23 of the RTE Act, the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) laid down the minimum qualifications for a person to be eligible for appointment as a teacher for class I to VIII. It had been inter alia provided 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 as under:

• 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 Delhi.

Qualifying CTET would not confer a right on any person for Recruitment/Employment as it is only one of the eligibility criteria for appointment. Till now there is no limit on number of attempts for appearing in CTET. 6. As per existing guidelines framed by NCTE, the validity period of CTET certificate is 7 years.