Chennai: Following the Supreme Court’s recent order mandating in-service teachers to clear the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET), the Teachers Recruitment Board (TRB) received 17% more applications for TNTET this year compared to the previous test conducted in 2023.

According to the data, 4,77,882 applications were received for both papers 1 and 2, which are scheduled to be conducted on Nov 15 and 16. The number of applications for paper 2, which is conducted for graduate teachers, increased by 1,20,000 compared to the previous edition.

However, the number of applications for paper 1, which is conducted for secondary grade teachers, decreased by 47,000 applications this year. Overall, 70,125 more applications were received compared to the previous test.

Meanwhile, teacher associations demanded the TRB increase the frequency of TET. “The TET pass percentage is very low. Teachers appear for this test after acquiring proper qualifications through the BEd exam.

However, the board is not even conducting this exam once a year,” said P Patric Raymond, general secretary of Tamil Nadu Graduate Teachers Federation. Teacher associations demanded the board conduct the exam at least two to four times a year. TRB officials said they are awaiting direction from the govt in this matter.

The SC order is set to affect around two lakh teachers in the state. The school education department announced that it would file a review petition against the order.