More candidates passing teachers' eligibility tests

There has been a rise in the number of candidates passing the Central Teacher Eligibility Tests (CTETs), the government said Monday.

"The percentage of candidates who successfully passed the last five CTETs has been from 0.68 to 10.41 percent of total candidates appeared," Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply.

Conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) anually to test a candidate's ability to teach standard I to VIII students, CTET is intended to bring national standards and benchmark of teachers' quality in the recruitment process.

In the country, at present teachers training is imparted through 593 district Institutes of Education and Training (DIETs), 118 Central Institutes of Education Technology (CIETs), 35 Institutes of Advance Studies in Education (IASEs), 40 universities, and 12,689 private sector teacher training institutions.

Similarly, the government also sanctioned 97 Block Institutes of Teacher Education (BITEs) in 2012-13 and 2013-14.

"BITEs have been sanctioned so that the Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and minority candidates can acquire teacher qualifications," the minister added.