TET to go online next year: Minister

In a statement in the state legislative assembly on Monday, school education minister Dada Bhuse said a committee headed by the state chief secretary would be set up to create the infrastructure to conduct the competitive exam online. Bhuse had also mentioned the plan to take the test online to HT on Saturday.

MUMBAI: The state government said the Maharashtra Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) and other examinations would be conducted online from next year. The announcement follows the leak in the TET-2026, a state-level test for teachers in government and government-aided schools, forcing the exam to be rescheduled.

TET to go online next year: Minister

In a statement in the state legislative assembly on Monday, school education minister Dada Bhuse said a committee headed by the state chief secretary would be set up to create the infrastructure to conduct the competitive exam online. Bhuse had also mentioned the plan to take the test online to HT on Saturday.

Bhuse also said the state is considering applying the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) to those found involved in the TET paper leak. “Three accused have been arrested… We are examining whether the guilty can be booked under MCOCA,” the minister said.

Meanwhile, the TET paper leak triggered an uproar in the state legislative assembly on Monday. Shiv Sena (UBT) legislator Bhaskar Jadhav said, “Paper leaks have become so frequent that Maharashtra now ranks second in the country in such cases.” Referring to the NEET paper leak, he claimed seven of the 11 accused were from Maharashtra. “And now there is the TET paper leak in Bhiwandi,” he said. “What is the Maharashtra government doing?” he asked.

In February 2022, Savrikar was arrested for his alleged role in a TET 2018 malpractice case. He had allegedly provided a list of TET-2018 candidates to agents, who took money in exchange for changing final scores.

Speaker Rahul Narwekar rejected the opposition’s demand for a discussion. However, he acknowledged that the information placed before the House was serious and directed the government to take appropriate action. The opposition protested the speaker’s decision and staged a walkout.

Refuting Wadettiwar’s allegations in the house, BJP MLC Prasad Lad, promoter of the Krystal Group, said he would serve a legal notice on the Congress leader. “We have absolutely nothing to do with the paper leak case. I don’t even know who Abhishek Savrikar is and have never met him. If he has taken the name of Krystal Group, I will serve him a legal notice at the earliest,” Lad told Hindustan Times. He said it was inappropriate to drag him and the Krystal Group into the controversy, without supporting evidence.