When Teachers Right of Transfer is Denied

Transfer of a government employee is the part of his service, so from bureaucrats to fourth class government employees, occasionally, every body tastes  this cup of tea.

However it would be a surprise for the readers that there is a cadre of teachers in  Jammu and Kashmir,  counting  around fifty thousand in number, who have been working at their first places of their respective postings from decades since their first appointment, inspite of the fact that some of them are at the verge of retirement now. They include all those teachers regularised through Rehbar-e-Taleem Scheme-like  Teacher Grade ll, Teacher grade lll, third teachers and regularised normal Rehbar-e-Taleem Teachers. Though they are at par with other teachers in every respect except being barred from the right of transfer.

The said teachers, share equal position and equal work at par with other teachers of erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state and is an efficient and hardworking lot, who have left no stone unturned to upscale the education standards of students mostly belonging to socially and educationally backward areas.

One cannot deny, that transfer of an employee is the matter of need by an employer, but there are instances when an employee needs to be transferred for some personal compulsive reasons like that of, on health grounds or on family grounds “often a requirement of a female employees post marriage”.

It is the fact that most of the employees working at the  postings of their favourite choice get disinterested by their transfers. But the reality is that the provision of  transfer, when needed, is beneficial for both employees as well as for employer, however  in school education department the prime beneficiaries of teacher transfers are the students. The  sizable number of  teachers  not brought under the  transfer policy can describe the demerits of prolonged stay of an employee at a same posting very well, as they have tasted this sweet poison offered to them by twenty first century policy makers.

Change is certain, so is the “need to change” with time and circumstances. If at times the continuous stay of teachers would have proven good, may be it would be disadvantageous now. At the beginning teachers engaged through Rehbar-e-Taleem Scheme at far off places were asked to  stay untransferred  over there for the reason that teachers from urban areas would refuse to join distant posting. Those were the times when no road connectivity, no transport and no communication was available there at rural areas. Turbulence was another reason that teachers would refuse to join rural areas. But that is the story of  past. Now commuting has improved. Need is to put the past behind and think about the new strategies in order  to achieve good results.

From The Perspective Of Students Benefit:

Rotation of teachers  is necessary tool to overcome shortcomings in school education department. By the transfer of teachers  students get a good opportunity to learn new things from new teachers.

Students need change in teaching methodologies used by different teachers and need to meet the requirement of subject specific teachers. Both these motives get wasted as in some schools you would find all science teachers where as in other school you would see all social science teachers posted there from their first appointment date. Like wise in some schools there is excess of staff and some schools remain staff deficit. In this way the required teacher/ student ratio is not uniform all over. The “no transfer” rule hampers the rationalisation, of staff in schools, which is the need of hour to overcome the loopholes left  if any in school education department in order to upscale the standard of students.

From teacher’s perspective:

The worst sufferers of this apathetic approach towards a particular section of teachers is female staff in school education department, who have to travel dozens of kilometres to reach their schools. For those who have been married to far off places, even to other districts their plight is pitable. This “no transfer” rule pushes them to wall thereby creating strife in their family life. As a result they are neither in a position to do justice with students nor with their families. Many times teachers unions have taken up this issue with popular  governments and concerned authorities but one wonders as if it is a hard rock to break to frame a transfer policy as all successive  government have  only given assurances after assurances in this regard but later all assurances have fallen flat.

The transfer of regularised Rehbar-e-Taleem Teachers, in addition to benefiting  students this cadre of teachers, would also  benefit other teachers  who are in dire need of transfer to nearest places on their health grounds.
If there is no harm or disadvantage in transferring those teachers but only advantages, then  what is the fun of devoting  the lifelong services of this cadre of teachers  to same schools.

Now the long time has gone by the authorities need to rethink on this matter, and in order to bring a new soul to  school  education  department, the government should go for a complete rotation of teachers, so that teachers  would restart their journey  of teaching as if new teachers at new postings with the new hopes.

Government should frame a good transfer policy in favour of those teachers who have been performing their duties at their first postings for decades despite  the fact that many teachers among them are at the verge of retirement.

• Azad Hussain
• Azadhussainganie[email protected]

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