Shillong, Oct 27: The 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 stated that 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.
“Our contention is that this judgment of the Supreme Court is having a retrospective effect and what we want is that after the RTE Act that the government should exempt all those teachers appointed pre-RTE Act,” he told reporters on Monday.
“After the coming of the RTE in the subsequent notification of NCTE which is the regulatory authority for elementary education and primary education they have set the standard for the teachers that we have no question at all,” Rymbui clarified.
Rymbui said that around 32,000 plus teachers will be affected by the judgment, which means they have to clear the TET within two years.
He expressed concerns that not all of these 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 their services are secured.
Regarding the recommendation of the state education commission to phase out underqualified teachers, Rymbui said It is a question of how one interprets it because the government has been recruiting teachers as per the norms set by the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE).
“So that means they are all qualified teachers,” he added.
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, it would be a different scenario altogether.
“Having said that once they meet all those criteria that means they are qualified,” the education minister added further.
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