Over 41,000 UPTET certificates gathering dust at DIET in U.P.’s Prayagraj

As many as 41,199 Uttar Pradesh Teacher Eligibility Test (UPTET) certificates of the candidates who cleared their exams between 2013-14 and 2019 sessions from Prayagraj region have been gathering dust at District Institute of Education and Training (DIET) here for years now, say officials in the know of things

As many as 41,199 Uttar Pradesh Teacher Eligibility Test (UPTET) certificates of the candidates who cleared their exams between 2013-14 and 2019 sessions from Prayagraj region have been gathering dust at District Institute of Education and Training (DIET) here for years now, say officials in the know of things.

A close look at these certificates reveals that 25,180 of them are of primary–level and the remaining 16,019 are of upper primary-level UPTET conducted between 2013 and 14 and 2019. (Sourced)

With no recruitments undertaken for government-run primary schools in the state for the past over four years, these candidates did not bother to collect their certificates, they add. “The certificates are ready to be handed over to the candidates. We urge them to report at DIET, Prayagraj, and collect them at the earliest,” said principal, DIET, Prayagraj, Rajendra Pratap.

A close look at these certificates reveals that 25,180 of them are of primary–level and the remaining 16,019 are of upper primary-level UPTET conducted between 2013 and 14 and 2019. Most of these certificates numbering around 19,775 are of UPTET-2019, officials say. State education department officials said similar is the case at over 65 DIETs of the state where too thousands of these UPTET certificates are lying dumped.

UPTET is a state-level exam conducted once a year by Prayagraj-headquartered Examination Regulatory Authority (ERA), UP, to enable candidates to gain eligibility to teach primary (Classes 1-5) and upper primary (Classes 6-8) in schools of the Uttar Pradesh government. UPTET exam is conducted in two shifts for two papers: 1 and 2. UPTET paper 1 is conducted for candidates who plan to become teachers of Classes 1-5. On the other hand, UPTET paper 2 is for candidates who plan to become teachers of Classes 6-8.

Candidates who wish to apply for both primary and upper primary schools need to appear in both papers. Both the UPTET papers are conducted on the same day in offline mode as pen-and-paper based tests. UPTET could not be held in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, while UPTET-2021 was cancelled on November 28, 2021 due to a paper leak forcing the exam to be re-held on January 23, 2022.

Based on the new guidelines of the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), all the TET certificates in U.P. were made valid for life in June 2021 instead of five years as earlier. Meanwhile, certificates of 6,60,592 candidates of UPTET-2021 held on January 23, 2022 are presently stuck due to a court case. Some Diploma in Elementary Education (DElEd) candidates have filed a petition in the Allahabad high court based on the decision of the Rajasthan high court.

They have claimed that BEd degree holders are not eligible for assistant teacher recruitment in UP Basic Education Board’s primary schools and hence they should not be awarded primary-level TET certificates. The certificates of these candidates are not being distributed as the matter is still pending in the court.

Candidates who have passed BTC, BEd or other NCTE approved courses can appear in UPTET so as to then become eligible to appear in Teacher’s Recruitment Exams—the final hurdle for a candidate to become a teacher in the government-run primary and upper primary schools in UP.

NCTE allowed BEd pass candidates to apply for primary school teacher’s post just in June 2018 and this has seen the number of applicants rising dramatically in UPTET.