Background and Rationale

Government of India has enacted ‘The Right of Children to free and compulsory primary education (std.1 to 8) Act 2009’ for the age group 6 to 14.

In accordance with the provisions of sub-section (1) of Section 23 of the RTE Act, the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) vide Notification dated 23rd August, 2010 and 29th JULY, 2011 laid down the minimum qualifications for a person to be eligible for appointment as a teacher for class I to VIII.  It had been inter alia provided that one of the essential qualifications for a person to be eligible for appointment as a teacher in any of the schools referred to in Clause (n) of section 2 of the RTE Act is that he/she should pass the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) which will be conducted by the appropriate Government in accordance with the Guidelines framed by the NCTE.

The rationale for including the TET as a minimum qualification for a person to be eligible for appointment as a teacher is as under:

1. It would bring national standards and benchmark of teacher quality in the recruitment process;
2. It would induce teacher education institutions and students from these institutions to further improve their performance standards;

It would send a positive signal to all stakeholders that the Government lays special emphasis on teacher quality

The Ministry of Human Resource Development, Govt. of India has entrusted the responsibility of conducting the Central Teacher Eligibility Test (CTET) to the Central Board of Secondary Education Delhi.

Question Paper Structure 



a) CTET Paper I (Primary Stage)

• Total Marks:150
• For classes I to V
• Duration of examination: Two-and-a-half hours

b)  CTET Paper II (Higher Primary Stage) 

• Total Marks:150
• For classes VI to VIII
• Duration of examination: Two-and-a-half hours

Child Development and Pedagogy, English & Hindi Subjects are compulsory.

(a) For Mathematics and Science Teacher: Mathematics and Science =>  60 MCQs, 60 marks

(b) For Social studies Teacher : Social Studies => 60 MCQs, 60 marks

(c) For any Other Teacher – either (a) or (b)