Teacher transfer process to be completed by Sept-end

BENGALURU: Primary and Secondary Education Minister S Suresh Kumar has said that unless teachers were happy with their place of work, teaching will be ineffective.  The minister is mulling reworking the existing rules around compulsory transfers, among other means of transfers (mutual, request, and intra/inter-unit transfers).

However, putting an end to the tussle between those demanding that the current transfer process be continued and those opposing it, Suresh said that this year, since the process had already begun, compulsory transfers would continue.

All transfers for the current academic year, which have been delayed and were in fact meant to take place for the year 2017-2018, will be completed by end of September, he said. Counselling of teachers for compulsory transfers would resume from September 4, he announced, about a week after he temporarily stalled the process.

As many as 4,260 teachers are yet to be compulsorily transferred, of which 3,371 are from primary schools and 889 are from high schools, while 3,773 will be mutually transferred, said officials from the department.

To make compulsory transfers easier, Suresh said ‘Counselling Offers’ will be given to teachers -- so they may choose schools which are closest to their current location. This is seen as a solution for the problem of transfers, which are being shunned by those moving from urban to rural areas.

As per officials, compulsorily transferred teachers, who do not get a transfer close to their location this year, will be given first preference to choose the location next year.

“We plan to make taluks a unit for primary schools (which at present has districts as units) and districts as units for high schools (which at present has educational divisions as a units),” Suresh added, in order to give a better scope for teachers to choose other schools from the vicinity.