WBSSC: The School Education Department of Tamil Nadu has increased the upper age limit for eligible candidates for Teacher Eligibility Test. The age limit for the candidates appearing in Teacher Recruitment Board (TRB) examination has been increased to 53 years for general category and 58 years for reserved category. Government orders have been issued in this regard on Saturday. The age limit was earlier raised to 42 for general and 47 for reserved categories through a government order in January.
In October last year, the age limit for general and reserved categories was raised to 45 years and 50 years respectively as a one-time measure as the teacher recruitment board exams were not held during the pandemic.
Earlier this month, candidates who had qualified for the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) in 2013 staged a protest at the Anbazgan campus in Perasiriya demanding cancellation of the government order passed in 2018 and teachers who had passed the TET to write another eligibility test for government recruitment.
They also requested the government to give jobs to those who cleared TET in 2013 as per DMK's election promise. A member of the TET Pass Candidates' Welfare Association said, “The government dropped our two important demands and issued a government order to increase the age limit for government recruitment. They have to fulfill the other two promises as well.”
The government order also cited the education minister's promise to school job seekers during discussions held earlier this month. In view of this, the Director of School Education added to the government order by writing to the government to increase the age limit. The age limit was earlier raised to 42 years for general and 47 years for reserved categories through a government order in January.
The upper age limit for open category candidates has been relaxed from 40 years to 53 years, an official order issued by School Education Secretary J Kumaragurubaran said on Saturday.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the state government has relaxed the age limit by five years as a one-time measure. As Secondary Grade, Graduate Teachers (BT Assistants) have not been recruited in the last 10 years, TET qualified candidates were demanding age relaxation. After their recent agitation where age relaxation was one of the demands, School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Payamozhi has announced relaxation of the age limit. This step has been welcomed by teachers' organizations. "Age relaxation is necessary because there has been no direct recruitment in primary education for over a decade," said P Patrick Raymond, general secretary of the Tamil Nadu Graduate Teachers Federation.
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