Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal announced on Thursday that the government has decided to extend the validity of the Teachers Eligibility Test (TET) qualifying certificate from seven years to lifetime with retrospective effect from the year 2011. State governments and Union Territories have been directed to take necessary action to revalidate or issue fresh TET certificates to those candidates whose period of seven years has already elapsed, the Education Minister added.

Pokhriyal added this will be a "positive step in increasing the employment opportunities for candidates aspiring to make a career in the teaching field."

TET is one of the integral qualifications for a person to be eligible for appointment as a teacher in schools. The guidelines dated February 11, 2011, of the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), laid down that TET would be conducted by the state governments and the validity of the TET certificate was seven years from the date of passing TET.

Earlier, the validity of the TET pass certificate was for seven years, there was no restriction on the number of attempts a person can take for acquiring a certificate. A person who has qualified in the exam was allowed to appear again to improve their score. There are two papers that the aspirants have to appear for — Paper 1, for teachers of Classes I to V, and Paper 2 for Classes VI to VIII.