Daily wage arrears of teachers with qualifications similar to K-TET to be disbursed

The Kerala government has decided to allow daily wage arrears up to October 31, 2025 to teachers who had been appointed before September 1 that year and have qualifications similar to the Kerala Teacher Eligibility Test (K-TET) such as State Eligibility Test (SET), National Eligibility Test (NET), MEd, MPhil, and PhD, Minister for General Education V. Sivankutty has said.

Addressing a press conference in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday, the Minister said permission had been given to examine separately each case in which daily wages were not allowed on the grounds that the teachers concerned did not possess the K-TET qualification.

The General Education department had issued an order in this connection to bring in clarity on disputes in connection with the K-TET qualification in the wake of the Supreme Court order making K-TET mandatory for teachers.

The order provides relaxations in eligibility criteria too. Teachers who have cleared K-TET category III (for high school classes) have been exempted from clearing K-TET category II (for upper primary classes). The provisions regarding this in a circular dated March 9, 2018, will continue to apply.

The Minister said the decision was subject to the ruling on the review petition submitted by the government in the Supreme Court. The government, he stressed, was committed to improving teachers’ salary and service conditions and providing them eligible benefits by removing legal obstacles.

According to the Supreme Court’s September 1, 2025, judgment, teachers with less than five years of service left could continue till retirement without clearing K-TET. However, K-TET was necessary for promotions. Those left with more than five years of service have to clear K-TET within two years of the date of the judgment to remain in service. Else, they could quit or be compulsorily retired with terminal benefits.