Tamil Nadu files review plea against Supreme Court judgment mandating TET for in service teachers

New Delhi: The Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday filed a review petition against September 1, 2025 judgment, which made it mandatory for all in service teachers to clear the Teachers Eligibility Test (TET).

The plea contended if the judgment is implemented, the hardship to be caused is not confined to the teaching community. 

It pointed out the State of Tamil Nadu alone employed 4,49,850 teachers in government and aided schools, of whom 3,90,458 are not TET-qualified. 

"If the directions are implemented, the entire school system faces the imminent prospect of collapse, with mass disqualification of teachers and denial of classroom instruction to millions of children. This creates a direct conflict with Article 21A of the Constitution, which guarantees the fundamental right to education," it said. 

The plea filed by advocate Sabarish Subramanian and settled by senior advocate P Wilson contended the balance between ensuring quality of education and safeguarding the right to education must be maintained by prospective measures, not by retroactive exclusion of nearly the entire teaching force.

The plea also said, even if the objective of enhancing teaching quality is accepted as legitimate, compelling pre-2010 appointees to pass TET on pain of disqualification is manifestly disproportionate. 

"Be that as it may the time period of two years will be telling on the quality of education to be imparted on the children as the affected teachers will be concentrating themselves to qualify the TET," the plea said. 

On the contrary less intrusive alternatives, such as in-service training, capacity building, refresher courses, or bridging programs, would achieve the same goal without extinguishing livelihoods and destabilizing the education system, it added.

In its directions, the apex court had said those teachers who have less than five years’ service left, as on date, may continue in service till they attain the age of superannuation without qualifying the TET.

"However, if any such teacher (having less than five years’ service left) aspires for promotion, he will not be considered eligible without he/she having qualified the TET," it said.

With regard to in-service teachers recruited prior to enactment of the RTE Act and having more than five years to retire on superannuation, the court had declared they would be under an obligation to qualify the TET within two years from date in order to continue in service.

"If any of such teachers fail to qualify the TET within the time that we have allowed, they shall have to quit service. They may be compulsorily retired; and paid whatever terminal benefits they are entitled to," the bench had said