Karnataka CM DK Shivakumar announces ‘Tr’ prefix for teachers: ‘They truly earned this’

Karnataka teachers can now place “Tr” before their names, under a new state government decision announced by Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar on Teachers’ Day.

The two-letter prefix is intended to stand alongside professional titles such as “Dr” for medical doctors, “Er” for engineers and “Prof” for professors. Shivakumar said nearly 450,000 teachers in Karnataka, along with more than 10 million across India, shape children’s minds, character and future every day.

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A teacher builds every person who goes on to build the nation.

“A teacher builds every person who goes on to build the nation,” Shivakumar said in a post on X. He listed doctors, engineers, farmers, public officials, entrepreneurs and leaders among those whose paths began with a teacher who recognized their potential and showed them what was possible.

The chief minister called “Tr” more than a title. He said it represented society’s recognition of teachers who had devoted their lives to guiding, correcting and encouraging students. “A society that honours its teachers honours its own future,” he said, adding that the prefix was recognition teachers had truly earned.

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A society that honours its teachers honours its own future.