E-Paper
Chandigarh education department yet to notify teacher transfer policy
Currently, a pick-and-choose policy for transferring teachers is being followed
Even though UT adviser Manoj Parida has approved the online teacher transfer policy for city schools, the education department is yet to notify the same.
A recently released Niti Aayog report on the School Education Quality Index (SEQI) also highlighted the fact that the city does not have an online transparent teacher training policy since 2016. The report said that the online transfer system should incorporate an annual transfer based on objective transfer policy including teacher preferences.
Talking to Hindustan Times, UT adviser Manoj Parida said, “This report takes into consideration the parameters of 2016 to 17. The education secretary, BL Sharma, has introduced a new transfer policy which has been approved by me.”
In the absence of a notified policy, a pick-and-choose policy for transferring teachers is being followed.
The education secretary; director of school education, Rubinderjit Singh Brar; and district education officer Anujit Kaur; were not available for comments. However, department officials said the transfer policy has already been approved but will not be notified this year.
Sources who did not wished to be named as they are not authorised to speak to the media said that the education department plans to notify the policy in the beginning of the next academic session.
PARAMETERS OF THE NITI AAYOG
The teacher transfer policy was an important sub-head of comparison in the report and fell under the ‘Outcomes’ and ‘Governance Processes Aiding Outcomes’ category, where UT has scored 88.4% and 69.5%, respectively. Under this category, parameters of student and teacher attendance, teacher availability, administrative adequacy, training, accountability and transparency were covered by the Niti Aayog.
The data for the same was collected from the ministry of human resource and development’s (MHRD’s) ShaGun portal.
In June, there were reports of the education department reviewing the teacher transfer policy, but it was reportedly put on hold by Sharma. Talking about the shelving of the policy, he had then said, “The department will continue to transfer teachers as per its requirements. At present, there are no plans to introduce a new policy.”
As per sources, the policy was approved for all teaching cadre posts including the principals, headmasters, lecturers, vocational teachers and JBTs.
In 2012, a transfer policy was formulated wherein a teacher had to serve at a school for at least three years before getting transferred. For the non-teaching staff, the transfer was due after 10 years of service. But the policy was never implemented.
