The Cabinet on Wednesday decided to regularise schoolteachers without K-TET (Kerala-Teacher Eligibility Test) eligibility.
Teachers appointed before September 1, 2025, but yet to be regularised and those with similar qualifications such as State Eligibility Test (SET), National Eligibility Test (NET), MEd, MPhil, and PhD, will get temporary approval, subject to the condition that they will clear K-TET within two years, Minister for General Education V. Sivankutty said at a press conference in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday.
The decision is subject to the apex court decision on the revision petition filed by the government in the matter.
Teachers will have to give a bond at the time of the approval that if they failed to qualify K-TET within the stipulated time frame, approval for their appointment would be cancelled and they would return the benefits availed of by them.
On promotion
However, a decision on teacher promotions would be taken after legal opinion from the Advocate General, the Minister said.
According to the Supreme Court’s September 1 judgment, teachers with less than five years of service could continue till retirement without clearing K-TET. However, K-TET was necessary for promotions. Those left with more than five years of service had to clear K-TET within two years of the date of the ruling to remain in service. Else, they could quit or be compulsorily retired with terminal benefits.
As per figures on August 31, a total of 75,015 of the 1.46 lakh teachers in service did not have K-TET eligibility, the Minister had said at a press conference last month.
Reacting to the Minister’s announcement, the Kerala Pradesh School Teachers’ Association (KPSTA) alleged that his statements were made in view of the upcoming Assembly elections and lacked sincerity since a January 1 order blocking teachers’ appointments and promotions in government and aided schools had not been withdrawn. Even promotions of teachers retiring this year had been blocked.
Published – February 18, 2026 08:35 pm IST
