What is Central Teacher Eligibility Test (CTET)?

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 organized 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 organizing 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 aspirant 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.

Exam Pattern for Paper-I

Subject	Questions	Marks
Child Development and Pedagogy	30	30
Language I (compulsory)	30	30
Language II (compulsory)	30	30
Mathematics	30	30
Environmental Studies	30	30
Total	150	150

In Paper-II, the test items on Child Development and Pedagogy focuses on educational psychology of teaching and learning, relevant to the age group of 11-14 years. They focus on understanding the characteristics, needs and psychology of diverse learners, interaction with learners and the attributes and qualities of a good facilitator of learning. Important topics for Child Development and Pedagogy include Theories of Intelligence, Theories of Child Development, Learning theories, Intelligence theories, Assessment & Evaluation, Concepts of Psychology.

CTET 2018 Exam Pattern for Paper-II for Mathematics and Science Teacher

 

Subject	Questions	Marks
Child Development & Pedagogy (compulsory)	30	30
Language I (compulsory)	30	30
Language II (compulsory)	30	30
Mathematics and Science (for Mathematics and Science teacher)	60	60
Total	150	150

CTET 2018 Exam Pattern for Paper-II for Social Studies/Social Science Teacher

 

Subject	Questions	Marks
Child Development & Pedagogy (compulsory)	30	30
Language I (compulsory)	30	30
Language II (compulsory)	30	30
Social Studies/Social Science (for Social Studies/Social Science teacher)	60	60
Social Studies/Social Science teacher)	60	60
Total	150	150

CTET 2018 Exam Pattern for Paper-II
(Apart from Social Studies/Social Science, Mathematics and Science  Teacher

 

Subject	Questions	Marks
Child Development & Pedagogy (compulsory)	30	30
Language I (compulsory)	30	30
Language II (compulsory)	30	30
Mathematics and Science (for Mathematics and Science teacher) Or Social Studies/Social Science (for Social Studies/Social Science teacher)	60	60
Total	150	150

The questions asked in CTET exam are general and basic. Candidates should study NCERT books thoroughly. They should read newspaper every day and watch daily news. Solve and practice the previous year’s papers and questions papers. Time management is important to attempt the questions, as questions appear easy but answering can be tricky sometimes as proximate data is available.

CTET 2018

The CTET 2018 online application forms are now available on website – ctet.nic.in. Interested candidates are required to apply before August 27, 2018 on the official website. The portal to apply online for the Teacher Eligibility Test would be open till the end of day on August 27, 2018. The fees, however, can be paid up till 3:30 pm on August 30, 2018. Earlier, September 16, 2018 was notified as the date of examination but it has since been changed. All the candidates are advised to keep a check on the official website for any updates regarding the examination date.