KEA Teacher Recruitment Omits 5-Year Age Relaxation, Sparking Outcry

Teacher aspirants across Karnataka have expressed shock and dismay after the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) issued a recruitment notification for 15,000 teachers citing old age-limit rules, ignoring a five-year relaxation previously granted by the state government.

The state government issued the notification to recruit primary school and other teachers after a gap of nearly a decade. However, candidates pointed out that the document makes no mention of the government's age relaxation decision, effectively barring thousands of aspirants who are crossing the age limit.

According to an official gazette notification issued on January 29, 2026, the state government had approved a one-time increase of five years to the upper age limit, valid until December 2027. Under those relaxed norms, the upper age limit was fixed at 40 years for general-category candidates, 48 years for candidates in Categories 2A, 2B, 3A, and 3B, and 45 years for applicants belonging to SC, ST, Category 1, and persons with disabilities.

Despite the government order, the latest KEA notification has reportedly applied the older age limits prescribed during the previous recruitment drive.

Candidates noted that a separate notification issued by the KEA on July 10 to recruit 320 teachers for Morarji Desai, Kittur Rani Channamma, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Indira Gandhi, and Dr B R Ambedkar residential schools under the Karnataka Residential Educational Institutions Society had incorporated a one-time five-year relaxation based on an order issued on January 9. However, that order from the School Education Department omitted specific mentions of the relaxation applicable across various reservation categories.

Teacher aspirants have urged the state government to intervene immediately and direct the KEA to incorporate the five-year relaxation into the current recruitment process.

Candidates, including aspirants from Raichur, warned that without the relaxation, thousands of applicants who waited nearly ten years for recruitment will lose their chance at public employment. Saroja, a teacher aspirant, appealed to authorities to step in and grant eligible candidates the one-time opportunity to submit their applications.