On Thursday, Union Education Minister announced that Government has decided to extend the validity period of the Teachers Eligibility Test qualifying certificate from 7 years to lifetime with retrospective effect from 2011. The respective State Govts. /UTs will take necessary action to revalidate/issue fresh TET certificates to those candidates whose period of 7 years has already elapsed, he added.

The Teacher Eligibility Test, known as TET, is the minimum qualification required in India for a person to be eligible for appointment as a teacher for Classes I to VIII. The test is mandatory for teaching jobs in Indian government schools. There are two papers: Paper 1, for teachers of Classes I to V, and Paper 2 for Classes VI to VIII. The TET is conducted both by the central and state governments of India. Most states conduct their own TET. (From Wikipedia). People with professional teaching qualifications, including the B.T.C (D.El.Ed), B.Ed, and B.El.Ed, is eligible to take the test. Candidates must score over 60% to pass.

CBSE maintains the TET database and guides government bodies on conducting the test.