New Delhi, Sept. 2 -- The Supreme Court on Monday expressed second thoughts about its own decision of 2014 exempting aided and unaided minority schools from implementing the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009 (RTE Act) and referred the matter to the Chief Justice of India (CJI) for reconsideration. A bench of justices Dipankar Datta and Manmohan said, "We hasten to observe with utmost humility at our command that the decision in Pramati Educational and Cultural Trust (2014) might have, unknowingly, jeopardised the very foundation of universal elementary education. Exemption of minority institutions from the RTE Act leads to fragmentation of the common schooling vision and weakening of the idea of inclusivity and universality envisioned by Article 21A." The court passed the order while considering a batch of petitions from the high courts of Bombay and Madras on the issue whether the teachers in minority schools should be required to undertake the mandatory teachers eligibility test (TET) as required by the orders passed from time to time by the National Council of Teacher Education (NCTE). The court went on to hold that TET will be mandatory for teachers in all schools, except minority schools, both aided and unaided, which are currently governed by the 2014 judgment . Holding that TET is an eligibility requirement under RTE Act, the court gave a two-year period for all in-service teachers recruited prior to enactment of the RTE Act and having more than five years tof service left to qualify the TET. "If any of such teachers fail to qualify the TET within the time that we have allowed, they shall have to quit service," the bench added. The only exception the court made was for teachers who have less than five years to retire. Using its extraordinary powers under Article 142, the bench directed that those teachers who have less than five years' service left, may continue till they attain the age of superannuation without qualifying the TET. However, for getting promotion, TET will be compulsory, the bench added. The Bombay high court and Madras high court orders presented conflicting positions on whether TET applies to minority schools. The Bombay high court on December 12, 2017 held that TET was mandatory for minority institutions against which appeals were filed before the top court by Anjuman Ishaat-e-Taleem Trust and other Muslim bodies. The Madras high court order of June 2, 2023, on the contrary, decided that TET is inapplicable to minority institutions, relying on the 2014 Pramati decision. This decision was challenged by the state and others. On analysis of the two orders and the 2014 judgment, the court found itself bound by the five-judge bench decision. However, it argued that the rights of minorities sought to be protected under Article 30 and the right to free and compulsory education under Article 21A can exist together....