Clearing Central Teacher Eligibility Test

Teachers play a vital role in nation building. They are the basic source of knowledge for most of the citizens of a country. Their job is not limited to make children literate only but also to give them words of wisdom. They shape up the personality of students and tap their potential to the fullest. There is a famous saying, "Teaching is a profession that creates all other professions". It is a noble as well as a challenging profession because it combines several aspects in order to help a child grow. A good teacher essentially needs to be having good communication skills, managerial skills, reading and writing skills, storytelling skills and so on. To make India an educated nation and a Vishwa Guru, the country needs to have a talent pool opting teaching as a profession. The CTET (Central Teacher Eligibility Test) Exam is a national level eligibility exam for teachers introduced by the Government of India in 2011, is a giant step towards accomplishing that goal.CTET was introduced with an objective to ensure that all students have access to teachers with a certain level and knowledge and also to enforce national standards within teaching community. The exam covers the minimum eligibility qualifications that a person should possess for appointment as a teacher for classes I to VIII. This exam is conducted to improve the quality of education in schools and meet the goals of free education for children under the Education Act effectively. The National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) has laid down the minimum qualifications for teachers in classes I to VIII as per the provisions  sub-scion (1) of Section 23 of the Right To Education. One of the necessary qualification for a person to be consider eligible for the appointment as a teacher in any of the schools as mentioned in the clause (n) of section 2 of the RTE Act is that he or she must clear the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) which is organised by the Government as per the guidelines being quoted by the NCTE. The rationale for TET as a minimum qualification for appointing a teacher is a) to bring national standards and benchmark of teacher quality in recruitment procedure. b) to foster teacher education institutions and students from these institutions and enhance the performance level. c) to show a positive signal to all stakeholders that the Government puts special focus on teacher quality. The Ministry of Human Resource Development has given the responsibility of organising the Central Teacher Eligibility Test (CTET) to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), Delhi.Qualifying the CTET is compulsory for candidates who wish to teach in Central Government schools including Kendriya Vidyalaya, Navodaya Vidyalaya, Central Tibetan Schools, schools under the administrative control of Union Territory's of Chandigarh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu and Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep and NCT of Delhi. A number of unaided private schools also consider CTET score while appointing teachers. Some State Governments also consider the CTET which do not conduct state TET. However, it must be noted that qualifying the exam doesn't guarantee a teaching job. There are many other factors on which the appointment depends.CTET is conducted twice a year in February and September. It is conducted Offline. There is no restriction on the number of attempts a person can take for acquiring a CTET Certificate. An aspirant who has qualified the exam may also appear again for improving his/her score. A student can apply online through its official website- ctet.nic.in and complete the online registration. The online registration opens usually 3 months before the examination date and lasts up to 1 month. The candidates appeared in the exam are issued Marks Statement. The candidates who secure 60% and above marks are issued Eligibility Certificate. The score of a qualifying candidate for all categories is valid for 7 years from the date of declaration of its result.Basic Eligibility for becoming teachers of class I-VIII:CBSE Affiliation Bye-Law 53 prescribes the minimum qualifications for teachers to teach various subjects in Classes I to VIII in the schools Affiliated to CBSE stands. As per its provisions, it is mandatory that the teachers appointed after March 2012 need to qualify CTET or TET. To appear in the CTET for the primary stage (Class I-V), a candidate must be Senior Secondary pass with at least 50% marks and also passed or appearing in final year of 2- year Diploma in Elementary Education or passed or appearing in final year of 4- year Bachelor of Elementary Education (B.El. Ed). The minimum Educational Qualification for becoming teachers of classes VI-VIII (elementary stage) is graduation and passed or appearing in final year of 2-year Diploma in Elementary Education or Graduation with at least 50% marks and passed or appearing in 1-year Bachelor in Education (B.Ed) or passed or appearing in final year of 4- year Bachelor in Elementary Education (B.El.Ed).Structure of CTET exam:Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) are asked in the CTET test where each question carries one mark. There is no negative marking. There are two papers. Paper I is for a candidate who intends to be a teacher for classes I to V whereas Paper II is for those who intends to be a teacher for classes VI to VIII. An aspirants who intends to be a teacher for both levels needs to appear in both the papers. The duration of the exam is two-and-a-half hours.CTET Syllabus:The syllabus of CTET 2018 for papers I and II have topics prescribed in the syllabus of the NCERT for classes I to VIII. The difficulty level is also up to the level of senior secondary stage. Candidates are tested for two languages, one as medium of instruction and another language that they can choose. For the second language, aspirants are tested on the elements of language, communication and comprehension abilities. The syllabus for Child Development and Pedagogy section includes topics related to teaching ability and students that they will be teaching after qualifying CTET and recruitment as teachers in primary and elementary schools in India. In Paper I, the test items on Child Development and Pedagogy focus on educational psychology of teaching and learning relevant to the age group of 6-11 years. They focuses on understanding the characteristics and needs of diverse learners, interaction with learners and the attributes and qualities of a good facilitator of learning.