The state education department has made it mandatory for candidates aspiring to become teachers and principals in the secondary and higher secondary schools in the state to clear the Teachers' Aptitude Test (TAT).
The test will be conducted by the Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board (GSHSEB). In Gujarat, 70% weightage would be given to marks scored in TAT, while 30% weightage would be given to the educational qualification of the candidate.
The move to hold TAT comes in the wake of the central government's decision of making an eligibility test and 60% score in it compulsory for aspiring teachers. The decision was taken to improve the dipping standards of teaching in schools across the country. Nationally called the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET), which Gujarat government has named TAT, the test is a mandatory requirement for securing a teaching job in schools - be it private, government, aided or unaided. It will be conducted once a year separately by the state government as well as the Centre.
State education department officials said the candidates aspiring to become teachers will have to pass TAT in maximum three trials with minimum 50% marks. The test will be conducted by the GSHSEB and will be valid for five years.
Officials said that the aspirant can appear again to improve the score but the average score will be considered final. The test is aimed at improving the quality of teachers in the state. "The test will ensure that the quality of teachers recruited is good and able to shape the future of secondary and higher secondary students," said an official.
The official added that selection committee will hold camps and give placements to the aspiring candidates on the merit-cum-preference basis.
Teachers will have to report on duty as per the orders of the selection committee.
However, the decision has not gone down well with grant-in-aid and self-financed schools.
"While we welcome TAT, it is largely unacceptable to grant-in-aid and self-financed schools which have termed it as unethical, stating that the rule should be common for every school," said Ahmedabad School Management Association president Bhaskar Patel.
However, Patel refused to comment about appointment of teachers, citing the sub judice status of the issue in the Supreme Court.
