Tens of thousands of school teachers from across India have taken to the streets demanding exemption from the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) requirement, after a Supreme Court ruling expanded the mandate to include in-service educators.
The movement, which trended widely on social media with the hashtag #JusticeForTeachers, saw large rallies in Delhi and other major cities on 22 February as educators protested what they call an unfair retroactive imposition of the TET on teachers appointed before certain cutoff years.
Under the Supreme Court’s September 2025 judgment, teachers with more than five years of remaining service are required to pass the TET within a specified deadline if they wish to retain their positions and remain eligible for promotions. Educators argue the rule threatens the livelihoods of millions of veteran teachers who entered the profession under different eligibility standards.
In Uttar Pradesh’s Jaunpur district, teachers marked their protest by wearing black armbands and appealed for the law to be amended to protect those hired before the test was introduced, describing the court directive as “disheartening and unjust.”
Union leaders say the demonstrations are not isolated, pointing to a rising tide of similar protests in states like Punjab, Karnataka, and Noida, where educators have staged marches, submitted memorandums to government offices, and voiced concerns over job security and professional dignity.
Representatives of teachers’ organizations are urging lawmakers and the judiciary to consider exemptions or legislative fixes that would safeguard senior educators from abrupt qualification changes, emphasizing both the value of experience and the need for stable education systems.
