SC upheld mandatory TET for in-service teachers, dismissing over 65 review petitions. It extended the deadline to August 31, 2028 (from 2027), giving three years from Sept 2025 order. It said no further extension will be granted and reaffirmed TET is required under RTE Act, directing states to conduct TET twice a year.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday reiterated that clearing the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) is mandatory for in-service teachers and extended the time till August 31, 2028 for passing the exam to remain in service.

A bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Manmohan dismissed a batch of more than 65 review petitions filed by several state governments, teachers’ associations and individual teachers challenging the court’s earlier ruling in the Anjuman Ishaat-e-Taleem Trust case.

The petitioners had sought reconsideration of the court’s 2025 judgment which held that in-service teachers appointed before the enactment of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, and having more than five years left before retirement, must clear the TET within two years from September 1, 2025.

In an order, the court said, “TET examination must be conducted by the relevant authorities expeditiously as well as the time and resources required for the same are limited, we alter and extend the timeline from 2 to 3 years, the qualification has to be obtained by 31st August, 2028 instead of 31st August, 2027, as originally directed”.