KOZHIKODE: A group of government school teachers recently submitted a memorandum to General Education Minister V Sivankutty seeking the repeal of rules framed in 1965 related to inter-district transfers.
As per the rule, teachers who seek inter-district transfer have to compromise on their seniority and they will have to forego past years of service which deprives them of promotion. In this way, a teacher, who is transferred to another district even after 15 years of experience, would retire without any promotion.
The petition was filed by the state collective of thousands of teachers who have availed of inter-district transfers. The teachers are looking forward with great hope when the chief minister recently said that ‘obsolete service rules should be scrapped. The teachers demand that the 57-year-old order regarding inter-district transfer should be included in the list of outdated service rules.
The executive order was issued by officials on May 28, 1965, making it clear that teachers getting a job in schools in other districts could seek a transfer to their home districts only after five years of service there. Such teachers will also become the junior most once they join a school in their home district.
“As per the rules which were framed when President’s rule was in force in the state, a teacher can only apply for transfer after five years of experience. Though eligible to apply for transfers after five years, they would get it only after 15-20 years, because when there are vacancies for the post of teachers, 70% of them would be given new appointments through PSC and the rest 30% would be given to inter-district transfers.
It is really difficult to get a transfer as many will be applying for it. If a teacher, who has 15 or 20 years of service, opts for a transfer, the whole seniority will be cut short and the teacher will be considered as junior most,” said a teacher.