Can sports quota apply to Math teacher recruitment? Andhra Pradesh thinks so

Should a certificate in sports be enough to land a government teacher job? Andhra Pradesh’s answer, under its Sports Policy 2024-2029, was largely yes, until the government reversed course. | iStock/Getty Images Should a certificate in sports be enough to land a government teacher job?

Andhra Pradesh’s answer, under its Sports Policy 2024-2029, was largely yes, until the government reversed course. It all began with the NDA-led government’s “Sports Policy 2024: Ushering a New Era of Sports Culture”, which introduced two key changes to sports-based employment.

First, it raised the sports quota, a horizontal reservation, from 2% to 3%. Second, it promoted recruitment under the sports quota without a competitive examination. The first major test of these changes came with the Andhra Pradesh government’s announcement of the District Selection Committee (DSC) 2025 recruitment drive for 16,000 teaching posts in government schools.

The vacancies included posts for School Assistants, Secondary Grade Teachers, Physical Education Teachers, and Trained Graduate Teachers. Within this drive, the government earmarked around 400 posts for the sports quota.

The notification in April 2025 listed 65 eligible sports and specified the educational qualifications required for each post. According to the recruitment notification, Sportspersons under the quota were exempted from writing the DSC examination.

The exemption was not complete, however. Candidates for School Assistant, Secondary Grade Teacher, and Trained Graduate Teacher posts still had to qualify in the AP Teacher Eligibility Test, while Physical Education Teachers did not need it.

The DSC recruitment drive spanned nearly six months, with the final list released in September 2025, filling around 370 of the approximately 400 teaching posts earmarked for the sports quota. However, this was not without controversy.

Allegations of irregularities in the DSC 2025 recruitment have begun to surface, bringing it into the limelight. According to an earlier report in The Hindu, around 330 cases were filed in court over alleged irregularities in the recruitment process, approximately 70 of which were related to the sports quota.

Against this backdrop, the government has now amended its Sports Policy 2024-2029 in May 2026 to reinstate the examination requirement for sportspersons applying under the quota. It cited “several representations and grievances from various sportspersons regarding the operational aspects” as one of its reasons.

Officials, however, have denied any irregularities. But, the entire episode has opened a wider debate on the role of sports quotas in education, particularly in teacher recruitment. Rakesh Kumar, an Arjuna Awardee and Paralympic medallist, said that since sports is a State subject, individual States have their own policies governing sports-quota recruitment.

Some states, such as Haryana, have a separate framework that allows sportspersons to be recruited directly to top administrative posts, bypassing the regular recruitment process. He noted that the practice is not new and has been in place for a long time at both the central and state levels.

According to the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, eligible sportspersons can be appointed under the sports quota, with provision for up to 5% reservation in Group C and Group D posts in Central government departments.

According to the information available with the departments, each follows its own practice in recruiting sportspersons. Some rely on talent scouting and interviews, while others also appear to hold a written examination.

Importantly, these recruitments are largely to administrative posts. Adding to this, Mr. Kumar said that if sportspersons have to study for and sit an examination on the same yardstick as other students, it is hard to focus on both sport and the exam.

Someone ventures into sport for a reason, he said, and the government has to accommodate sportspersons in government jobs as a safety net if it wants India to become a sporting nation. Treating them the same as other candidates, he argued, will not help that goal.

Further, K.S.S. Srinivas, general secretary of the United Teachers Front, Andhra Pradesh, argued that sportspersons bring valuable domain knowledge to Physical Education posts, benefiting both sport and students. On this, he said, States could recruit sportspersons under the sports quota with or without an examination, or recruit them first and give them a fixed period to acquire the required qualifications.

For other teaching subjects, however, he said, a grasp of the fundamentals is essential, and an eligibility entrance examination is needed to ensure it. Mr. Kumar also agreed that an examination is needed for technical posts, such as teaching in particular.

“Unlike recruitment to administrative roles, teaching requires subject understanding, and its effect is felt directly in student outcomes,” Mr. Srinivas remarked. Further, speaking on the issue, Andhra Pradesh Olympic Association President R.K.

Purushotham shared concerns over the transparency and scrutiny of the selection process in sports quota. Mr. Purushotham said that when the quota is extended to educational admissions and employment, it has largely not reached the sportspersons it was meant for.

He pointed to gaps in the scrutiny of sports certificates, saying that some individuals could obtain certificates and clear the verification stages without proper checks. In his view, this has been a long-standing problem, and he argued that stronger verification would protect the interests of genuine sportspersons.

Technical fields, such as teaching posts, require an examination, Mr. Purushotham said. And, he asked, “When a system is vulnerable and large incentives are opened up in the name of sport, who is going to benefit?” He said he had himself filed two public interest litigations (PIL) pleas in the Andhra Pradesh High Court over alleged irregularities in the Andhra Pradesh DSC 2025...