Transfers on table for 32,000 government teachers in Karnataka

BENGALURU: At least 32,000 government teachers are facing the possibility of transfer after a three-year delay. Since 2016, a number of teachers have cited various to prevent transfers and government schools, especially those in rural areas, have been in a fix due to lack of teaching staff. Officials say heavy lobbying has prevented the transfers over the past three years. This has adversely impacted the functioning of government schools in rural areas, they added.

While the revised rules for teacher transfer in 2017 mandated redeployment of teachers from urban to rural areas (where there is a dearth of teachers), rules also suggested that teachers who have served for at least 10 years are bound to get a transfer.

While the Department of Primary and Secondary Education is working with a strength of 2.2 lakh teachers, about 90,000 teachers are up for transfers, of which just a fraction -- 15,000 are seeking voluntary transfers. The teachers try to get the rules changed for their convenience, so they get a priority, but there is a logical sequence to the transfers which is divided into four phases, said officials.

“First is the redeployment of excess teachers, then the urban to rural transfer, and then the request transfer and finally the mutual transfer,” said officials.

This year, several teachers complained that their details were not updated correctly on the website. Some said they belonged to the Karnataka Public School, which is a model school project of the state government. Hence, as per rules, they were exempt from transfers.

However, officials said the teachers came up with new reasons to avoid getting out of their “comfort” zone. Commissioner of the Department of Public Instructions P C Jaffer said there will be no change in the system. A few teachers were transferred in 2018, and changing the rule would be a disservice to them, he added.

“Teachers are given schools based on the number of students. Every 400 students should have 10 teachers. At least 32,000 teachers will be transferred this year.”

While the transfer process was delayed till September in 2018, the department is hoping for a smooth conduct of transfers by July second week, said sources.