CBSE conducts CTET 2021 under strict COVID-19 precautions in 135 cities

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) conducted the 14th edition of Central Teachers Eligibility Test (CTET) on 31 January. The board said after the conduct of the recruitment exam that the entire test was organised following the COVID-19 protocols. CBSE had taken some extra steps to ensure social distancing was observed duly. Originally, there were 112 exam cities designated to hold the CTET 2021. This was taken to 135 cities in order to safely conduct the test. CBSE had given a chance to candidates to change their choice of exam city. During the pandemic, many had to move places or return back to their home city. The education board said that they tried to accommodate every candidate in their choice of exam centre or city. To prevent applicants from unnecessary physical appearance, CBSE will be preparing and publishing the mark sheet digitally through DigiLocker. DigiLocker accounts of all CTET candidates are going to be created and soon they will be sent their account credentials via their registered phone numbers. Applicants will be also getting their digital eligibility certificate via the app. It works with the help of QR codes that need to be scanned by the candidates. The teacher eligibility test saw as many as 22,97,062 candidates appearing in the nationwide exam. Citing an official release by CBSE, the report said that while 12,19,220 candidates had appeared in paper 1, the number was 10,77,842 for paper 2. Paper 1 was conducted in the morning shift (from 9.30 am to 12 pm), whereas the second paper was held from 2 pm to 4.30 pm in the afternoon shift on the same day. In order to qualify, candidates will have to score 60 percent marks. While the part 1 of the exam is for candidates trying to teach classes 1 to 5, the second part is for teachers of classes 6 to 8.