Home is where heart is: Transfer us, demand govt teachers

BENGALURU: Hundreds of government school teachers gathered at Freedom Park on Thursday, protesting against the government’s refusal to transfer them to their home districts, according to a recent amendment to the Transfer of Teachers Act. In September last year, an amendment was made to the Karnataka State Civil Services (Regulation of Transfer of Teachers) Act, 2020, allowing teachers a one-time option for a transfer back to their home districts.

The teachers said that many of them have been working in their non-home districts for the past 10 years, and for years their transfers are pending. They have launched the protest after the government refused to transfer them due to lack of vacancies. “We’re asking for transfers so that we can get postings in or closer to our home districts and we are able to see our families,” one of the protesting teachers said on condition of anonymity.

“We’re happy to be transferred even within the same zilla so that we can visit our children and families. Especially for those of us with small children who are away from our families, we cannot find people who are willing to look after them,” another teacher said. Many of the teachers had suffered due to the long-distance, either due to divorces, being unable to visit their children.