As many as 1,60,929 teachers across the State wrote the paper-II of the Teachers Eligibility Test held on Sunday.The paper-I conducted on Saturday was for teachers handling Classes I-V, and the one held on Sunday for teachers of Classes VI-VIII and those who want to qualify for promotions. While teachers noted that Sunday’s question paper was much easier than Saturday’s, they pointed out that there had not been enough time to prepare for the examination. “The TET paper-I was very tough. Compared to it, this was an easier paper, but questions were also asked from the syllabus of Classes XI and X,” a teacher from Chennai said. According to a press release from the Teachers Recruitment Board, a total of 1,67,743 teachers had registered to take up the exam. A total of 6,814 were absent for the examination. In September 2025, the Supreme Court had ruled that all teachers, except those with less than five years of service, must clear TET to continue in their jobs, with no exceptions even for promotions. In May 2026, the apex court had extended the timeline for acquiring TET qualification by a year.Pointing out that teachers have been in service for over 20 years, another teacher noted that there is hardly any time to prepare for the subjects. “We had qualified through another competitive exam to become teachers. The government is putting us through this ordeal again. The TET exam could have been conducted in our subjects. The government could atleast relax the qualifying marks,” a teacher added. A total of 966 people, including four question paper control officers, around 50 department officers, 742 room invigilators, 100 non-teaching officers, 51 primary invigilators, and staff, have been deployed to conduct this examination. In Chennai district, a total of 1,02,51 candidates had registered to appear for paper-II in 38 examination centers.While the psychology section was the hardest, teachers pointed out that the training provided by SCERT was of not much use. “The training provided did not match the question paper pattern. We had to balance household and work. The government should have given us more time and consideration to sit for the exam,” a teacher said. Published - July 06, 2026 12:18 am IST