TET

About PSTET

BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE

The implementation of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 requires the recruitment of a large number of teachers across the country in a time bound manner. In spite of the enormity of the task, it is desirable to ensure that quality requirement for recruitment of teachers is not diluted at any cost. It is therefore necessary to ensure that persons recruited as teachers possess the essential aptitude and ability to meet the challenges of teaching at the primary and upper primary level.

In accordance with the provisions of sub-section (1) of Section 23 of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) had vide Notification dated 23rd August, 2010 laid down the minimum qualifications for a person to be eligible for appointment as a teacher in classes I to VIII.

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

The Department of School Education, Government of Punjab has entrusted the responsibility of conducting the Punjab State Teacher Eligibility Test (PSTET) to the SCERT, Punjab which shall be held on in the Month of August.

Qualifying the PSTET would not confer a right on any person for recruitment/employment as it is only one of the eligibility criteria for appointment.

STRUCTURE AND CONTENT OF PSTET

All questions in PSTET test will be Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs), each carrying one mark, with four alternatives out of which one answer will be correct. There will be no negative marking.

There will be two papers of PSTET.

(i) Paper I will be for a person who intents to be a teacher for classes I to V.
(ii) Paper II will be for a person who intents to be a teacher for classes VI to VIII.

Note: A person who intents to be a teacher for both levels (classes I to V and classes VI to VIII) will have to appear in both the papers (Paper I and Paper II).

Duration of examination:

In accordance with NCTE Circular No.76-4/2010/NCTE/Acad dated 11.02.2011 regarding Guidelines for conduct of Teacher Eligibility Test, the time duration for Paper-I & Paper-II, has been mentioned as 1.30 hours in TET.

The NCTE vide letter No.F.76-1/2011/NCTE/Acad, dated 9th April, 2013, has increased the time duration for TET Examination from 1.30 hours to 2.30 hours for a period of six months or till the report of the committee for this purpose, is submitted and a decision is taken thereon, whichever is earlier. Accordingly, as per the aforesaid NCTE Notification regarding extension of time duration to complete TET will be subject to the above mentioned condition/ decision.

Paper I (for classes I to V); No. of MCQs 150

Structure and Content (All Compulsory)
(i) Child Development and Pedagogy                     30 MCQs     30 Marks
(ii) Language I                                                       30 MCQs     30 Marks
(iii) Language II                                                     30 MCQs     30 Marks
(iv) Mathematics                                                    30 MCQs     30 Marks
(v) Environmental Studies                                     30 MCQs     30 Marks
Total                                                                              150 MCQ    150 Marks

Nature and standard of questions:

• The test items on Child Development and Pedagogy will focus on educational psychology of teaching and learning relevant to the age group of 6-11 years. They will focus on understanding the characteristics and needs of diverse learners, interaction with learners and the attributes and qualities of a good facilitator of learning.
• The Test items for Language-I will focus on the proficiencies related to the medium of instruction, (as chosen from list of prescribed language options in the application form).
• The Language-II will be from among the prescribed options other than Language-I. A candidate may choose any one language from the available language options and will be required to specify the same in the application form. The test items in language II will also focus on the elements of language, communication and comprehension abilities.
• The test items in Mathematics and Environmental Studies will focus on the concepts, problem solving abilities and pedagogical understanding of the subjects. In all these subject areas, the test items will be evenly distributed over different divisions of the syllabus of that subject prescribed for classes: IV, by the Punjab State Government/SCERT.
• The questions in the tests for Paper I will be based on the topics prescribed for classes: IV, but their difficulty standard, as well as linkages, could be up to the secondary stage.

Paper II (for classes VI to VIII): No. of MCQs 150

Structure and Content:
(i) Child Development & Pedagogy (compulsory)             30MCQs      30Marks
(ii) Language-I (compulsory)                                           30MCQs      30Marks
(iii) Language-II (compulsory)                                        30 MCQs     30Marks
(iv) (a) For Mathematics and Science teacher:
Mathematics and Science                                     60 MCQs     60Marks
(b) For Social Studies/Social Science Teacher:
Social Science                                                      60 MCQs     60Marks
(c) For any other teacher - either (a) or (b)

• The test items on Child Development and Pedagogy will focus on educational psychology of teaching and learning, relevant to the age group 11-14 years. They will 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.
• The test items for Language-I will focus on the proficiency related to the medium of instruction, as chosen from list of prescribed options in the application form.
• The Language-II will be a language other than Language-I. A candidate may choose any one language from among the available options and as in the specified list in the application form and attempt questions in the one indicated by the candidate in the application form by him. The Test items in Language-II will also focus on the elements of language, communication and comprehension abilities.
• The test items in Mathematics and Science, and Social Studies will focus on the concepts, problem solving abilities and pedagogical understanding of these subjects. The test items of Mathematics and Science will be of 30 marks each. The test items will be evenly distributed over different divisions of the syllabus of that subject as prescribed for classes VI-VIII by the Punjab State Government/SCERT.
• The questions in the tests for Paper II will be based on the topics of the prescribed syllabus of the Punjab State for classes VI-VIII but their difficulty standard as well as linkages could be up to the senior secondary stage.

QUALIFYING MARKS

A person who scores 60% or more in the PSTET exam will be considered as PSTET pass.

• Punjab Govt., as decided to give concession of 5% in PSTET to the persons belonging to SC/ST, OBC, differently abled persons, etc., in accordance with their extant reservation policy; 
• This weightage to the PSTET scores in the recruitment process; however, qualifying the PSTET would not confer a right on any person for recruitment/employment as it is only one of the eligibility criteria for appointment.

APPLICABILITY

The PSTET shall apply to the Schools owned and managed by the Punjab State Government/Local Bodies and aided school.
PSTET may also apply to the unaided private schools who may exercise the option of considering the PSTET

VALIDITY PERIOD OF PSTET CERTIFICATE

• The Validity Period of PSTET qualifying certificate for appointment will be seven years from the date of declaration of its result for all categories.
• There is no restriction on the number of attempts a person can take for acquiring a PSTET Certificate. A person who has qualified PSTET may also appear again for improving his/her score

Evalaution of Answer Sheet

The machine - gradable Answer Sheets are evaluated with extreme care and are repeatedly scrutinized. No request for re-checking, re-assessment, re-evaluation or scrutiny of OMR Answer Sheets will be entertained. No correspondence in this regard will be entertained. 

WEEDING OUT RULES 

The records of Punjab State Teacher Eligibility Test including OMR Answer sheet is preserved upto six months from the date of conduction of Examination Bye-Laws.