Kerala temporarily suspends new K-TET guidelines amid teacher protests

The Kerala government has temporarily suspended the operation of new Kerala Teachers’ Eligibility Test (K-TET) guidelines issued on January 1 for teacher appointments and promotions in government and aided schools.

At a press conference in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday, Minister for General Education V. Sivankutty said it had been decided to freeze the order on the revised guidelines following opposition from teachers’ organisations.

The Minister said the Supreme Court judgments on the teachers’ eligibility tests would affect nearly 40,000 teachers of Classes I to VIII. He reiterated that the State government would file a review petition against the Supreme Court ruling without delay. An affidavit had been drawn up in this regard and handed over to the Advocate General, the Minister said.

Mr. Sivankutty said the apex court ruling adversely affected teachers who had entered service before April 1, 2010. The government was committed to protecting the rights of teachers who had entered service complying with the appointment rules in force then.

Interestingly, the government had first declared its intention of filing a review petition a week after the Supreme Court ruling. However, there had been been little progress on this front, much to the ire of teachers’ organisations that alleged betrayal by the government.

The Right to Education Act was aimed at ensuring quality education. However, dismissing teachers with long and experienced careers would only serve to destroy quality. These teachers had been imparting education to students till now in compliance with the then eligibility conditions, Mr. Sivankutty said.

K-TET began in the State in 2012 informing teachers who had entered service before 2010 that a test that did not exist then was mandatory now was against natural justice. The government was of the opinion that considering teachers who entered service before K-TET began and those after as similar was a violation of Article 14 of the Constitution, he said.

Teachers’ organisations had come out in protest against the order on January 1. The Kerala Pradesh School Teachers’ Association criticised the guidelines blocking promotions even before the relaxation of two years allowed by the Supreme for teachers with more than five years of service to clear TET within two years. The government would next issue an order dismissing all teachers who had not cleared TET, it alleged.