The National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) has set up two expert committees to amend teacher recruitment qualification rules and eligibility criteria for the Central Teacher Eligibility Test (CTET) and State Teacher Eligibility Tests (STET), paving the way for graduates of its four-year Integrated Teacher Education Programme (ITEP) to become eligible for school teaching jobs.
Qualifying the relevant TET is one of the essential requirements for appointment to covered teaching posts, along with other eligibility conditions prescribed by the respective recruiting authorities. Launched in the 2023-24 academic session by NCTE, the ITEP aims to prepare teachers for the various stages of school education in accordance with the new 5+3+3+4 curricular and pedagogical structure, envisaged under the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020. NEP 2020 envisages the four-year integrated degree becoming the minimum qualification for school teachers by 2030.
The first committee, constituted by an office order dated October 8 and chaired by former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Prof Nirmaljeet Singh Kalsi, will examine amendments to the NCTE’s 2014 regulations governing the minimum qualifications for the recruitment of school teachers. It has been asked to prepare a draft amendment to include ITEP as a recognised minimum qualification for school teacher recruitment and to submit it to the NCTE chairperson within 30 days of the order. The 12-member committee includes representatives or nominees from the Union education ministry’s Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSEL), Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS), Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS), Rehabilitation Council of India and Haryana’s State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT). The second committee, constituted on October 12 and chaired by retired Delhi University professor Chand Kiran Saluja, will review the existing guidelines governing CTET and STET and recommend changes to make ITEP graduates eligible to appear for these examinations.
The two committees will examine the existing regulatory provisions and recommend amendments to accommodate ITEP in recruitment drives and STET and CTET – qualifying teacher eligibility tests in India used to hire school teachers. HT has seen the order copy regarding the constitution of both committees. It also includes academics from Delhi University.
