BENGALURU: Karnataka Primary Education Minister Madhu Bangarappa said that they are drafting a law under which maternity and child care leave will be granted to teachers within 15 days of receiving the leave request.
Replying to a question raised by BJP MLC Y M Sathish in Council on the criteria for granting child care leave to female teachers, Madhu said that the teacher transfer would be completed before the start of the academic year, i.e., June 1.
Citing an example of a teacher in Yelburga, Sathish said, “A teacher gave birth to a premature baby. After her six months maternity leave, she applied for child care. However, the Block Education Officer rejected her request, not only ordered her to report to work but also served show-cause notice. The BEO may be acting in accordance with the law. But his action was against the spirit of the law.” He said it was inhumane to force a teacher to return to work after maternity, as she is eligible for six months of child care leave.
The minister said that to address the issue, a new category, ‘maternity transfer’, would be introduced in the teacher transfer counselling. He explained that teachers who return to work after their maternity leave can choose their place of work till the child is five years old. In the place of teachers who go on maternity and child care leave, he said that steps would be taken to appoint guest teachers.