Guwahati: The latest fake TET (Teachers’ Eligibility Test) scandal has prompted the Assam government to re-examine the testimonials of all TET-qualified teachers appointed in the past five years, a senior state education department official said.
In an official order, the state directorate of secondary education has asked all inspectors of schools (IS) of 21 districts to submit a detailed report on TET-qualified teachers’ testimonials by October 22.
The department has reasons to believe that many teachers with fake TET certificates have been working at various high schools in Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) comprising Chirang, Baksa, Udalguri, and Kokrajhar districts.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has been entrusted to conduct a probe into the fake TET certificate case following an initial inquiry conducted by the state education department that exposed that some people have got teachers’ jobs by producing fake TET certificates.
The CID has arrested 36 teachers who managed jobs with fake TET certificates. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has also been formed to probe into the case.
According to official figures, the state education department appointed 5,592 TET-qualified candidates as post-graduate teachers (PGTs) and graduate teachers (GTs) in various provincialized high schools, higher secondary schools and high madrassas between October 2016 and September 2021. Of them, 5,105 were GTs and 487 PGTs.
Of 73 TET teachers appointed during 2016-2017, 44 are PGTs, and 29 are GTs. Of 1,223 TET teachers appointed during 2017-2018, 337 are PGTs, and 886 are GTs.
A total of 104 TET-qualified PGT teachers were appointed during 2018-2019, while in 2019-2020, no teacher was appointed. During 2021-22, out of 4,192 TET teachers appointed, 4,190 are GTs, while the remaining two are PGTs.
The education department has asked the inspector of schools to submit the date of appointment of each teacher, year of clearing TET, roll number of TET-cleared candidates, percentage of marks in TET, candidates’ contact numbers and the schools where they are presently working.
