Alappuzha: Kerala’s General Education Department has issued transfer orders to over 200 teachers in several schools after children without Aadhaar cards were excluded from the official student enrolment count taken on the sixth working day of the academic year. Teacher positions are allotted to schools based on this data.

Although many schools had sufficient student strength to retain their staff, the absence of Aadhaar numbers led to teachers being marked surplus and transferred. Around 200 teachers across the state—including 15 in Alappuzha district—have been shifted under this rule.

As per procedure, details such as student numbers and Aadhaar information must be uploaded to the Education Department’s Sampoorna portal on the sixth working day. Many students, however, lack Aadhaar during admission and apply for enrolment later. If Aadhaar numbers are delayed, these students are excluded from the headcount.

The issue had cropped up in the past two academic years as well, but the number of affected students was negligible. This year, however, a large number of students are still awaiting Aadhaar enrolment, worsening the situation.

Education Department officials said the transfers could not be avoided since rules prevent relaxation after the headcount. Applications mentioning students’ Aadhaar enrolment IDs are submitted during staff fixation through the Samanwaya portal, but these are not considered valid without an actual Aadhaar number, resulting in teacher transfers to schools with higher recorded strength.