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Karnataka teachers can now use the prefix ‘Tr’ before their names, with the state government formally allowing the honorific on Saturday, September 5, coinciding with Teachers’ Day.
Chief Minister DK Shivakumar announced the decision while launching the Praja Seva programme in Kudligi in Vijayanagara district. The government subsequently issued an order allowing teachers to use the prefix, recognising their contribution to the “progress and educational upliftment of society”.
The move places teachers alongside professions that commonly use prefixes such as ‘Dr’ for doctors and doctorate holders and ‘Prof’ for professors. The order highlights teachers’ role in career guidance, building confidence among students, upholding Constitutional values and developing scientific temper.
“From today, teachers of Karnataka can proudly use the prefix ‘Tr’ before their names,” Shivakumar said.
Speaking at the Praja Seva launch, Shivakumar said teachers deserved the same respect and recognition accorded to other professions. “A mother who gives us life and a teacher who educates us are both like God to us,” he said.
Karnataka has more than 4.5 lakh teachers, Shivakumar said. He emphasised that teachers’ influence extends well beyond classrooms, pointing out that doctors, engineers, civil servants, entrepreneurs and political leaders all begin their journeys as students guided by teachers.
“A society that honours its teachers honours its future,” Shivakumar said in his Teachers’ Day message. He also said a teacher helps build the individual who eventually goes on to build the nation.
The ‘Tr’ prefix is intended as an honorific recognising the teaching profession and is not an additional academic qualification. The move is largely symbolic but is aimed at giving teaching a distinct professional identity.
Karnataka’s decision comes amid increasing technological influence in education, including the growing use of online coaching and artificial intelligence tools. The government’s move could also encourage other States to consider similar recognition for teachers.
During the launch of Praja Seva, Shivakumar also said the programme would focus on resolving people’s grievances rather than merely receiving petitions. Applications concerning pensions, land disputes, government benefits, khata transfers, guarantee schemes, houses and sites would be examined and resolved, he said.
He added that free legal assistance would be provided to poor and vulnerable people involved in cases before tahsildars, assistant commissioners and deputy commissioners. If an application is rejected, the reason would have to be clearly communicated, he said.
Shivakumar also said he preferred to be called a “public servant” rather than the “ruler of the state”, saying that the era of rulers was over and that democracy required governance to reach people’s doorsteps.
