Chennai: The Tamil Nadu School Education Department has warned Chief Educational Officers (CEOs) that they will be held responsible if delays in issuing service certificates prevent teachers from applying for the special Teacher Eligibility Test (TET).

As per the Right to Education Act, qualifying in the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) is mandatory for recruitment as intermediate and graduate teachers in government and aided schools.

The system has been in place since 2011. Subsequently, the Supreme Court, in an order dated September 1 last year, directed that all in-service teachers must also clear the TET.

Following this, around 1.5 lakh teachers in Tamil Nadu were expected to be affected. To address this, the School Education Department decided to conduct a special TET examination.

The special TET is scheduled to be held on July 4 and 5, while the deadline for submitting applications ends tomorrow.

In a circular issued to all district Chief Educational Officers, School Education Director Kannappan said uploading service certificates is mandatory for applying to the special TET.

“If teachers are unable to apply due to non-issuance or delay in issuance of service certificates, the responsibility will lie with the Chief Educational Officers and District Educational Officers concerned,” the circular said.

Officials have been directed to ensure that all teachers are issued service certificates without delay and with due priority, it added.