Facing strong criticism of restrictions on dress for the upcoming Teacher Eligibility Test (TET), the Maharashtra State Council of Examination (MSCE) on Monday, June 22 clarified that female candidates will be allowed to wear a hijab, burqa, dupatta or other attire of their choice, provided their face remains fully visible during the examination. The clarification was made in a circular and it came days after the council’s instructions for the June 28 examination that candidates will not be allowed to wear items such as dupattas, burqas, masks and caps inside examination centres which triggered debate among teachers and various social groups, reported The Hindustan Times.
Thereafter, in a detailed statement, MSCE said that the objective of the restrictions is not to interfere with religious practices but to ensure transparency and prevent malpractices during the examination, which will be conducted under live CCTV surveillance.
“The council has not imposed restrictions on what candidates can wear. However, during the examination, the face must be clearly visible on CCTV cameras. No cloth or covering should conceal the ears, head, mouth or any part of the face above the neck,” MSCE commissioner Nandakumar Bedse said.
Outlining the initial rationale behind the decision, the council said that examination authorities across the country are increasingly dealing with sophisticated methods of cheating, including concealed mobile phones, miniature Bluetooth devices and other electronic gadgets.
Officials pointed out that in recent D El Ed and computer shorthand examinations conducted by the council, some candidates were found to have hidden mobile phones inside dupattas and burqas and used them during the examination.
“The Teacher Eligibility Test is a highly sensitive examination. With the emergence of AI-enabled tools, miniature Bluetooth devices and other electronic equipment, preventing malpractices has become increasingly challenging. Ensuring that every candidate’s face is clearly visible on live CCTV is essential to maintaining fairness and credibility,” the council said.
This clarification put out by the council is now expected to put to rest the controversy surrounding the dress-code instructions ahead of the examination scheduled for June 28. Figures reveal that more than 6 lakh candidates have registered for this year’s TET examination, making effective monitoring a key challenge. Officials said clear visibility of candidates is necessary for identity verification, biometric authentication and CCTV-based surveillance throughout the examination period.
The council also relied on practices followed in several national and state-level competitive examinations, including UPSC, SSC, IBPS, SBI, RRB, GATE and public service commission examinations, where face-covering items are restricted to facilitate identification and monitoring.
The MSCE also referred to a 2024 Bombay high court (HC) judgment in a petition challenging a college dress code that prohibited hijab, burqa and other religious identifiers on campus. The court upheld the college’s dress code instructions, observing that the petitioners had failed to establish that wearing a hijab constituted an essential religious practice.
A translation of the clarifying instructions may be read below:
Maharashtra State Examination Council, Pune
Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Office Building,
(Second and Fourth Floor) Survey No. 832 A, Shivajinagar, Pune – 411004
Telephone No.: 020-29709396 Website: www.mscepune.in E-mail: mscepune@gmail.com
Outward No.:
MSCE/Svee.Sanha/217/2026 Date: 22/06/2026
Subject: Regarding clarification on the use of dupatta, burqa, and hijab by female candidates in the Teacher Eligibility Test
Clear instructions have been issued that since live CCTV will be used in all classrooms at the examination centers during the Teacher Eligibility Test to be conducted by the Maharashtra State Examination Council on June 28, 2026, nothing including a dupatta, burqa, mask, or cap can be worn so that the entire face is clearly visible. However, emails have been received requesting that female candidates be permitted to use the burqa, hijab, and dupatta. A clarification on the said matter is being made as follows:—
In the Writ Petition WPL No. 17737 / 24, Zainab Abdul Qayyum Choudhary Vs Chembur Trombay Edu. Societys, Chembur Trombay Education Society’s, N.G. Acharya and D.K. Marathe College of Art, Science and Commerce, Chembur, Mumbai, order dated June 26, 2 024, filed in the Hon’ble High Court, Mumbai, 9 female students challenged the college’s dress code instructions, wherein hijab, burqa, niqab, and other attire revealing religious identity were banned on campus. In the said judicial decision, the Hon’ble High Court recorded observations as follows:—
In the writ petition, it has been pleaded that the petitioners have been donning a Hijab and/or Nakab for last few years. The pleadings in the writ petition to support the plea that donning of a Hijab or Nakab is an essential religious practice however are insufficient. Except for stating that the same constitutes an essential religious practice on the basis of the English translation of Kanz-ul-Iman and Suman Abu Dawud, there is no material placed to uphold the petitioners’ contention that donning of Hijab and Nakab is an essential religious practice. The contention in that regard therefore fails.
For the aforesaid reasons, we are satisfied that the Instructions issued by the College under which a dress code has been prescribed for its students does not suffer from any infirmity so as to violate provisions of Article 19(1)(a) and Article 25 of the Constitution of India.
In almost all major competitive examinations in India—national-level examinations such as UPSC, SSC, IBPS, SBI, RRB, GATE, CLAT, CA, CS, CMA, etc., and State Public Service Commission examinations like MPSC, GPSC, BPSC, UPPSC—face-covering clothes such as dupatta, burqa, scarf, cap, and goggles are prohibited. This is because it is necessary for the face to be clearly visible during identity verification, biometric checks, and the CCTV verification process throughout the examination period. The main objective behind banning the hijab, burqa, or dupatta on the face during examinations is to prevent malpractices by closely monitoring all candidates through Live CCTV during the entire examination period, to ease identity verification, and consequently to maintain transparency and credibility in the examination.
Various types of malpractices are being used in examinations nowadays, such as carrying a mobile phone, sending the question paper outside via mobile WhatsApp/Telegram, receiving answers via mobile, and keeping extremely small-sized Wi-Fi Bluetooth devices in the ears, among many other tricks. Therefore, the complete face and the entire portion above the neck—meaning the mouth and ears of all candidates at the examination centre—must be clearly visible so that there is no room for suspicion regarding malpractice. If the face is kept covered, it will not even be known who is talking to whom. Furthermore, if a female candidate is asked to show her face based on suspicion for verification at the examination centre, it might lead to a completely different issue altogether.
Recently, in the D.El.Ed. and Computer Shorthand examinations conducted by the Maharashtra State Examination Council, it has come to light that candidates hid mobile phones in their dupatta/burqa, brought them into the examination centre, and used them.
The Teacher Eligibility Test is a highly sensitive examination, and considering factors like AI, Bluetooth devices, and electronic devices as small as shirt buttons, it has become highly challenging to prevent any kind of malpractice. For the examination to be transparent and to curb all kinds of manipulations, it is necessary that the faces of all 6 lakh candidates are clearly visible in the Live CCTV.
Overall, considering all the above points, female candidates will have the freedom to wear any clothes, dupatta, odhni, or burqa for the Teacher Eligibility Test; however, during the examination period inside the classroom at the examination centre, the face must be fully and clearly visible in the CCTV camera. For this purpose, above the neck—meaning on the ears, head, or mouth/face there should be no cloth/covering of any kind; this is being clarified here.”
The June 22, 2026 circular has been signed by Dr. Nandkumar Bedse (I.P.S.), Chairman, Maharashtra State Examination Council, Pune.
The original circular in Marathi may be read below Embed Original
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