MP CM Announces Offline Mode for TET on Teachers' Day

Why this TET exists in the first place: The requirement traces back to a Supreme Court ruling delivered on September 1, 2025, which made TET qualification mandatory even for in-service teachers appointed before the Right to Education (RTE) Act — a category that had previously been treated as exempt. The court rejected states' and teacher associations' review petitions in May 2026, holding that all serving teachers must acquire the prescribed qualification within a stipulated period, and extended the compliance deadline to August 31, 2028, while directing states to conduct TET twice a year until then. In Madhya Pradesh, the ruling affects an estimated 1.5 lakh in-service teachers; those with fewer than five years of service remaining before retirement have been given a limited exemption from the pass requirement for continuation in service, though TET remains relevant for their promotions.

The rollout has not been smooth. Teacher organisations had called for a boycott of the application process over unresolved questions on eligibility, syllabus and exam procedure, and the state government has separately approached the Supreme Court seeking relief for roughly 70,000 teachers recruited between 2005 and 2009 through Vyapam-conducted selection exams, arguing those tests should count as equivalent to TET. It is against this backdrop of teacher pushback that Saturday's offline-mode announcement is being read as a direct concession to serving teachers' concerns.

Yadav said the state government was simultaneously working to improve education quality based on School Education Department recommendations. "We are making efforts to improve educational quality... our government schools will be better than private schools," he said, adding that more than 50 per cent of students in board exam merit lists come from government schools.

He described teachers as central to shaping the country's future: "The map of the country is drawn on paper, but the destiny of the country is shaped by our teachers in classrooms." The Chief Minister, along with Governor Mangubhai Patel, honoured 33 outstanding teachers from across the state during the ceremony.

Governor Patel, in his address, said education could no longer be confined to textbooks and needed to be upgraded in line with global requirements and employment opportunities, urging teachers to identify students' individual talents and help them develop accordingly.