About the Sikkim Teacher Eligibility Test Syllabus
The Sikkim Teacher Eligibility Test Syllabus has been revamped by the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) Sikkim to align with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 guidelines and contextualize it to the state's specific requirements. This initiative aims to strengthen the STET by improving test material quality in both content and pedagogy, providing a clear roadmap for aspiring teachers.
STET Exam Structure
The Sikkim Teacher Eligibility Test (STET) consists of two papers, each comprising Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs). Each question carries one mark, and there is no negative marking.
- Paper I (Primary Stage) – For candidates aspiring to teach Grades I to V.
- Paper II (Elementary Stage) – For candidates aspiring to teach Grades VI to VIII.
Paper I: Primary Stage (Grades I to V)
Paper I assesses foundational knowledge and pedagogical understanding for teaching at the primary level. The distribution of questions and marks is as follows:
| Subject Area |
No. of Questions (MCQs) |
Total Marks |
| Child Development and Pedagogy |
30 |
30 |
| Language I |
30 |
30 |
| Language II |
30 |
30 |
| Mathematics |
30 |
30 |
| Environmental Studies |
30 |
30 |
| Total |
150 |
150 |
Paper II: Elementary Stage (Grades VI to VIII)
Paper II focuses on the content and pedagogical skills required for teaching at the elementary level. Candidates choose between Mathematics & Science or Social Science.
| Subject Area |
No. of Questions (MCQs) |
Total Marks |
| Child Development and Pedagogy |
30 |
30 |
| Language I |
30 |
30 |
| Language II |
30 |
30 |
| Mathematics and Science OR Social Science |
60 |
60 |
| Total |
150 |
150 |
Detailed Syllabus Content
The syllabus is meticulously structured to cover both subject-specific content and pedagogical knowledge. It ensures that prospective teachers possess a strong understanding of child development, learning theories, and effective teaching methodologies.
Child Development and Pedagogy
This section covers the theoretical and critical understanding of children's physical, cognitive, social, and emotional development. It includes psychological foundations of teaching and learning, developmental processes of children with diverse abilities, and knowledge of various approaches to child development and learning.
- Child Development (Primary/Elementary School Child): Concepts, principles, factors influencing development, domains of development, socialisation processes, theories of Piaget, Kohlberg, Erikson, and intelligence.
- Concept of Inclusive Education: Meaning, importance, acts and policies (RPWD 2016, NEP 2020), addressing individual differences, needs of children with different abilities (learning disabilities, CWSN, gifted learners), and issues like child labor and abuse.
- Learning and Pedagogy: How children think and learn, theories of learning (Behavioral, Gestalt, Gagne, Bandura, Vygotsky), Bloom's Taxonomy, factors contributing to learning, concept formation, basic processes of teaching and learning, and assessment methods.
Languages (English and Regional Languages)
Language learning is fundamental across all subjects. The syllabus assesses academic and pedagogical knowledge, sensitivity to diverse language contexts, and the ability to design materials for nurturing autonomous learners.
- Content: Unseen passages (prose and poem) for reading comprehension, grammar knowledge (functional and communicative grammar, figures of speech), and vocabulary (synonyms, antonyms, semantic gradients). It also includes responding to literature and understanding language policies in school education (Three Language Formula, Sikkim's Language Policy, NEP 2020 recommendations).
- Pedagogical Processes: Language diversity and multilingual contexts, challenges in teaching English as a medium of instruction (Language I) or regional languages as a subject (Language II), language across the curriculum, language acquisition and learning theories (Chomsky, Bruner, Krashen, Cummins), approaches to language teaching at primary/elementary stages, curricular materials and planning, assessing language, teaching literature, and critical perspectives on grammar and remedial teaching.
Mathematics
This section focuses on developing student-teachers' ability to foster reasoning, communication, problem-solving, and real-world application of mathematics in children.
- School Mathematics (Content and Learning): Number concepts (operations, HCF, LCM, ratio, percentage, profit/loss, interest, exponents, word problems), Geometry (shapes, spatial understanding, lines, angles, symmetry, Van Hiele's levels), Pattern and Algebra (expressions, equations), Measurement and Mensuration (area, perimeter, volume), and Data Handling (pictographs, bar graphs, mean, median, mode, probability).
- Perspectives and Pedagogical Content Knowledge: Nature and understanding of mathematics, language of mathematics, place in school curriculum, community mathematics, approaches to learning and teaching mathematics (theories, errors, strategies), understanding resources for teaching mathematics, and assessment in mathematics.
Environmental Studies (EVS) - Paper I
EVS takes an integrated approach, drawing concepts from science, social science, and environmental education. It assesses understanding of inter-relationships and the ability to engage children in exploring their environment.
- Content and Learning: Family and friends (relationships, changing families, community, local games, plants and animals), Food and Water (importance, types, preservation, sources, waterborne diseases), Clothing and Shelter (artisans, traditional knowledge, types of houses, migration), and Travel and Places (transport, lives and livelihood, festivals, heritage sites of Sikkim).
- Pedagogical Issues/Concepts: Nature and objectives of EVS, integrated and thematic approach, teaching-learning resources (low-cost/no-cost materials, community as laboratory), and assessment indicators and methods in EVS.
Science - Paper II
This section ensures student-teachers have thorough content knowledge and can employ multiple pedagogic strategies to make science learning meaningful.
- Content: Moving things, people, and ideas (force, motion, gravitation, work, energy, power), How things work (electricity, magnetic effects, sound, light), Materials (fibres, metals/non-metals, acids/bases, atoms/molecules, matter, carbon compounds, chemical reactions), The world of the living (physiological processes in plants/animals, cell/tissue, control/coordination, forest/environment, health/diseases), and Natural phenomena/resources (lightning, earthquakes, air, water, soil).
- Pedagogical Processes: Nature and structure of science, science curriculum, approaches and methods of teaching science (experimentation, inquiry, problem-solving), planning and learning resources, and evaluation of learner progress.
Social Science - Paper II
Social science aims to develop a critical understanding of society. Teachers need a sound conceptual understanding to facilitate skills like investigation, decision-making, and cooperative work in children.
- Content: Social and Political Life (government, democratic rights, electoral politics, state government, Indian Constitution, judiciary, marginalisation, diversity, gender), History (constructing history, earliest cities, Ashoka, Delhi Sultans, Mughal Empire, trade to territory, rebellions, women/caste/reform, nationalism), and Geography (planet Earth, globe/maps, domains of Earth, resources, human resources, India's physiographic divisions, climate, drainage, natural vegetation, wildlife).
- Pedagogical Issues/Concepts: Nature and objectives of social science, strategies or methods of teaching social science (project, storytelling, survey, inductive/deductive), teaching-learning resources, and assessment methods.
