Administrator
16 September 2026
Jharkhand teachers demand Assembly resolution against TET rule, hunger strike from Oct 22 (Screengrab / ITG vide)
Another agitation has rocked the state as a long-running dispute over the retrospective application of the Teacher Eligibility Test has moved into a new phase in Jharkhand, with teachers seeking legislative intervention and announcing an indefinite hunger strike if their demand is not addressed.
Assembly Resolution at the Centre
The All-Jharkhand Primary Teachers’ Association has urged the Jharkhand Legislative Assembly to pass a resolution opposing the Supreme Court’s requirement that teachers appointed before the Right to Education Act, 2009, must clear the TET. The association wants the resolution forwarded to the Government of India, following similar action by Tamil Nadu.
State president Anup Kesari and general secretary Ram Murti Thakur said the association will meet State ministers and submit a memorandum on the issue.
Why Teachers Are Challenging the Requirement
The Supreme Court’s September 2025 order required teachers in service as of March 2015 to qualify through TET within a stipulated period. The deadline, initially August 2027, has since been extended to August 2028.
The order has implications for around 25,000 government teachers in Jharkhand, within an estimated 2.5 million affected nationally. Teachers with more than five years of service remaining who fail to qualify within the prescribed period face termination, while those with less than five years remaining may continue but would not be eligible for promotion.
Teacher organisations argue that TET became a nationwide minimum qualification only through an NCTE notification in 2010 and should not retrospectively alter conditions applicable when pre-RTE teachers were appointed.
A Wider Legal Debate
The Teachers’ Federation of India has pointed to other judicial decisions and recent rulings that, it argues, raise questions about retrospective application of qualifications. More than 60 review petitions have reportedly been filed nationally, while several States have sought legislative or governmental intervention.
The Next Test for Jharkhand
The association has announced an indefinite hunger strike from October 22. The coming weeks will therefore test whether dialogue and legislative representation can address the teachers’ concerns before the dispute moves into another phase of protest.
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