Consider the following statements: 1) As per the Right to Education (RTE) Act, to be eligible for appointment as a teacher in a State, a person would be required to possess the minimum qualification laid down by the concerned State Council of Teacher Education. 2) As per the RTE Act, for teaching primary classes, a candidate is required to pass a Teacher Eligibility Test conducted in accordance with the National Council of Teacher Education guidelines. 3) In India, more than 90% of teacher -5 education institutions are directly under the State Governments. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Only statement 2 is correct, so the answer is B. The core concept is who sets teacher qualifications under the RTE Act, 2009.

• Statement 1 is wrong. Section 23 of the RTE Act says the minimum qualifications for a teacher are laid down by the 'academic authority', which is the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), not the State Council of Teacher Education. The State body does not set this national floor.
• Statement 2 is correct. Section 23(2) requires a candidate for teaching classes I to VIII to pass a Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) conducted by the appropriate government in accordance with NCTE guidelines. Section 23 was amended in 2019 to give in-service teachers a window to acquire the qualification.
• Statement 3 is wrong. Most teacher education institutions in India are private, including self-financing and unaided colleges. The claim that over 90% are under State Governments reverses the real picture.

On the Mains side, this links to the debate on teacher quality, the regulatory role of NCTE after the 1993 Act, and the federal split between Centre and States in education.

Trap: Aspirants assume that because the State conducts the TET, the State sets the qualification. The NCTE sets the standard; the State only conducts the test.