The Central Eligibility Test for Teaching (CTET) is an exam conducted by the central board of secondary education at national level which has to be given to the candidates to become eligible for their appointment as a teacher for classes I to VII. The exam is conducted by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) twice a year. Although the level of the paper can be from easy to moderate, however considering the number of candidates appearing in the paper i.e. 14 lakhs, it is becoming quite concerning that the candidates should have proper resources while they prepare for CTET exam.
Here we will provide you with the list of best-considered books which can help you to qualify the CTET examination along with various aspects of the paper-like exam pattern, syllabus, and other useful information for the candidates.
CTET Highlights: Exam Pattern and Syllabus
Central Teaching Eligibility Test (CTET) is conducted at two levels, Paper 1 for the candidates to teach for class I-V and Paper 2 for the candidates who wish to teach class VI-VII. Any candidate who wishes to appear for the can give both the papers or any of them. Both the papers have 150 questions which are attempted by the candidates within 150 minutes. Any candidate has to secure 60% marks in order to qualify for the test. Each question carries one mark and there is no negative marking in both the examinations.
The syllabus for the CTET examination is all the topics covered in the NCERT books from class 1st to 8th. Various sections in which the papers are divided are listed below:
| Paper 1 | Paper 2 |
| Child Development and Pedagogy
Language-I Language-II Mathematics Environment Studies |
Child Development and Pedagogy
Language-I Language-II Mathematics Science Social Studies |
Best books for CTET exams: Section-Wise
Child Development and Pedagogy
Pedagogy can be defined as teaching or practice of learning where knowledge and skills are imparted into an educational context. Questions from this area are asked in order to see whether a person is qualified to impart the process of learning to students.
Various topics coming under this section include different concepts related to child development, learning, progressive education. Inclusive education and whether the teacher is able to address different students like one with special needs, students who have difficulties, or students who are talented.
From various sources some of the best books for this topic are listed below:
- Child Development and Pedagogy for CTETs & TETs by Arihant publication
- Child Development and Pedagogy by Sandeep Kumar
- Child Development & Pedagogy by Disha Publications
Students can select anyone from the following and start preparing for this section.
Language I and II
These sections access the student’s language development skills. The section is divided into 2 sub-sections which are language comprehension which comprises one paragraph and one poem. Another section is Pedagogy of language development which checks whether the candidate will be able to make the students learn and use language as a tool and other challenges which can be faced by a teacher.
Some of the books which are recommended for these sections are listed below:
- CTET and TETs English Language and Pedagogy by Arihant Publication.
- CTET (Language I): English and Pedagogy by Geeta Sahni, Pearson Publications
Mathematics
Topics under this section are from NCERT books from class 1 to 8th. Different books for this section are listed below:
- NCERT (class 1 to 8)
- RS Aggarwal: Quantitative Aptitude for Competitive Examinations
- Test practice workbooks for science and mathematics by Disha experts
- Mathematics Exam Goalpost by Wiley Publications
Science, Social Science, and Environmental studies
The questions from this section access the student’s knowledge in General science and other topics like social sciences subjects like history, geography, general knowledge, and environmental studies. Different books for this section are :
Environmental Studies by Wiley publications
Social Studies by Pearson Publications
Success Master CTET by Arihant Publications
Candidates preparing for the exam can pick any one of the given books and start preparing.
Previous years Papers
Previous year’s papers always play an important role in any entrance examination. Through these papers, any candidate can have an idea of exactly what type of questions are asked in the examination and on which topic they need to focus more. Thus it is advised to solve previous years on a regular basis. To know more read here our education blog.
