TET or CTET, Which is the Best?

“Congratulations!” I told my cousin sister Maryam who graduated after completing her B.A. (Education). “What plans now?” I asked her. But she was too busy on her phone, checking her free job alert as I later found out. It was Maryam’s dream to be a school teacher ever since I could remember. She had planned her educational path along these lines. Turns out, she was now specifically looking to be a teacher at a government school and had registered to get notified for the government exam.

She registered herself to get notified for two exams, namely, TET and CTET. Now I had very little knowledge on these two exams until she mentioned it to me so I wanted to know more.

TET

The Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) is an entrance examination that is conducted by the state government for recruiting teachers for state-government run schools. It was introduced in 2011, by the Government of India to improve the teaching quality standards. The vacant teaching positions in the Government schools will be filled according to the candidate’s rank. Clearing the TET is the minimum qualification required for a candidate to be eligible to work as a teacher for classes I to VIII in an Indian Government School. Apparently, lakhs of applicants attempt the exam every year. Every examination has two papers, wherein Paper 1 is to be eligible as a teacher of classes I to V, and Paper 2 is to be eligible as a teacher of classes VI to VIII. Those attempting the exam should score over 60% to pass. The candidates who do clear the exam will be eligible for teaching posts in government schools of the state they wrote the test for.

CTET

Central Teacher Eligibility Test (CTET) is an entrance examination conducted by CBSE, Delhi for recruiting teachers for Central Government-run Schools. With over 12 lakh candidates applying, the examination is held in 20 Indian languages and gets conducted twice a year. Candidates will need to clear the CTET exam to be eligible to work as a teacher for classes I to VII for Central Government-run School

Applicants should score a minimum of 60% to become CTET Certified and the certificate will be valid for the next seven years. Candidates who clear the exam will be eligible to apply for the teacher post at Central Government-run schools and the schools under the administrative control of the union territories of Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu and Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, and the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT).

Difference between TET and CTET

The main difference between the TET and CTET exam is that while TET is conducted by respective state governments to recruit teachers for state government schools, the CTET exam is conducted to recruit teachers for the Central government-run schools

TET examinations are only applicable for the particular state exam you appear for while the CTET examinations are applicable all over the country.

Students appearing for the TET examination will need to be proficient in the state language, while the students appearing for the CTET exam can write it in any language they’re comfortable with. 

In Conclusion

Finally, Mariyam tells me the reason she applied for both the exams was because those who have appeared for the TET exams will only be eligible for a job at a state government-run school while those who have appeared for the CTET exams will only be eligible for a job at a central government-run school. And by attempting both the exams, she’ll have the chance at both. She seemed really keen on getting the teacher job without even knowing which school she would be placed at and I respected her commitment for that. And as soon as she was done explaining it all to me, she immediately got back to checking her free job alert notifications.