Srinagar, June 6 -- The debate surrounding the Teacher Eligibility Test has become far larger than an examination. It now raises a fundamental question about fairness, accountability and the way governments choose to fix past policy failures.

When the Teacher Eligibility Test, or TET, was introduced in 2010 following the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, its purpose was clear. Officials sought a common national benchmark for recruiting elementary school teachers. Through the Central Teacher Eligibility Test and various state-level examinations, authorities aimed to ensure that new entrants possessed basic subject knowledge, pedagogical understanding and classroom aptitude.

TET functioned as a gatekeeper. It served ...