Kerala grants temporary pay relief to 20,000 teachers after SC K-TET ruling
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): The Kerala government has decided to grant temporary pay-scale approval to nearly 20,000 teachers affected by a recent Supreme Court verdict mandating K-TET qualification, Minister V Sivankutty said on Wednesday.
Addressing a press conference, Sivankutty said that under the Right to Education (RTE) Act, passing the Kerala Teacher Eligibility Test (K-TET) is mandatory for teachers.
However, the state had earlier exempted those appointed before 2012, citing concerns that sudden enforcement would adversely affect them.
On September 1, 2025, the Supreme Court of India struck down the exemption and directed that teachers without K-TET qualification be removed from service, he said.
The state general education minister said the verdict impacted nearly 20,000 teachers and their families. “While implementing the court order, the government has found a way to protect teachers,” he added.
As per the apex court’s ruling, teachers have been given two years to clear the K-TET examination. Sivankutty said requiring them to work without pay during this period would be unjust.
Accordingly, the government has decided to grant temporary pay-scale approval to teachers appointed before September 1, 2025, on the condition that they clear K-TET within two years.
The benefit will also extend to those holding equivalent qualifications such as NET, SET, M Phil and Ph D, he said.
A decision on promotions for such teachers will be taken after seeking legal advice from the Advocate General, he added.
In a related development, the minister said the government has decided to revisit staff fixation in schools where discrepancies in Aadhaar-linked student data had led to the loss of teaching posts.
He said Aadhaar had been made mandatory to ensure accurate student enrolment data. However, minor errors in Aadhaar details or delays in issuance had resulted in some students not being counted, leading to a reduction in posts and job losses for teachers.
“Not a single teacher should lose their job due to lack of Aadhaar,” the minister said.
The government has now ordered re-fixation of posts by including students who had applied for Aadhaar (with EID) or sought correction of errors up to July 14, 2025.
The move is expected to facilitate the reinstatement of several teachers who lost their jobs due to technical discrepancies, he added.
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Karnataka School Edu Dept prohibits children from being made to dance to obscene songs
Bengaluru (PTI): The Karnataka School Education Department has issued a circular strictly prohibiting children from being made to dance to obscene songs in educational and cultural programmes.
It stated that such dances would negatively impact students' mental health and moral values. It will create indiscipline and harm the sanctity of education.
"All the Deputy Directors (Administration) of the state's School Education Department have been asked to take strict measures to prevent children or students from dancing to obscene songs in all government, aided and unaided schools in the state," the office of the commissioner of the School Education Department said in a recent circular.
"If it is found that children are being made to dance to obscene songs, appropriate action will be taken against the headmaster or management of such school," it added.
The department also listed certain measures in this regard, which include: strictly prohibiting children from being made to dance to obscene songs during educational and cultural programmes; selecting songs that are inspiring, positive, instilling national pride in children and reflecting the greatness, dignity, values, culture, and morality of the state.
Stating that the school headmaster and management are responsible for selecting songs and dances for cultural programmes, it said, they should also ensure that students wear decent clothes in dance or cultural programmes.
