What the job involves
A government school teacher works in a school run by the central government (Kendriya Vidyalaya, Navodaya Vidyalaya) or a state education department, teaching a subject and age group your qualification and eligibility test cover. The role carries the job security, pension benefits and transfer postings typical of central and state government service, alongside the actual work of teaching.
Postings differ meaningfully by employer: Kendriya Vidyalaya and Navodaya Vidyalaya are central government schools with an all-India transfer liability, while state government teaching posts stay within the state that recruited you.
How to get there
There is no single exam. Teaching eligibility works in two layers: first, a qualifying eligibility test that certifies you as eligible to teach at all, then a recruitment exam or interview conducted by the specific school system you want to join.
The eligibility layer is CTET (Central Teacher Eligibility Test) for central government and many private schools, or the equivalent state TET for state government schools. Passing CTET or a state TET does not itself get you a job; it is a prerequisite that keeps you eligible to apply when a school system recruits.
The recruitment layer varies by employer. DSSSB conducts its own exam for Delhi’s government schools. KVS and NVS run their own recruitment exams for Kendriya Vidyalaya and Navodaya Vidyalaya postings respectively. Each state runs its own teacher recruitment exam for its state school system.
Qualification you need
For primary level teaching (classes 1 to 5), a two year Diploma in Elementary Education (D.El.Ed) alongside class 12 is the usual minimum, though requirements shift periodically and should be confirmed against the current CTET or state TET notification.
For Trained Graduate Teacher (TGT) and Post Graduate Teacher (PGT) posts, a bachelor’s degree with a Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) is the standard requirement, with a master’s degree additionally required for PGT posts in most systems.
A realistic timeline
Expect to clear CTET or your state’s TET first, since most recruitment exams either require it as a prerequisite or award marks for having cleared it. From there, recruitment exam cycles for DSSSB, KVS, NVS and state systems run on their own separate schedules, so watching more than one system’s notifications at once, rather than waiting for a single exam, meaningfully shortens the realistic path to an appointment.