HYDERABAD: With merely two weeks left for the new academic year to begin, the proposed rationalisation of government teachers in Telangana is likely to be deferred again. Though the state government earlier planned to implement it during summer vacation, there was no progress on the front.
The state government which proposed to rationalise government teachers across the state in September last, had to postpone it to summer vacation after facing opposition from the teachers’ unions. Teachers argued that any move to transfer them in the middle of the academic year would have negative impact on the education of children.
According to the proposal, the government schools with lowest enrolment rate would be shut down and the teachers in those schools would be transferred to other schools which require more teachers. Schools with enrolment of less than 75 students will be closed and the students in those schools will be shifted to other schools in nearby towns or villages. The idea is to ensure optimum and effective utilisation of teachers.
However, now the government teachers are worried that similar situation is likely to arise this academic year too. Chava Ravi, general secretary, Telangana State United Teachers Federation (TSUTF), said “There are hardly two weeks left for the new academic year to begin and it is impossible to take up a huge exercise like rationalisation in this limited time. If the government initiates it after the classes begin, it will be a disruption for academic activities in schools.”
To address their demands, the school education department had recently held discussions with the teachers’ unions and sought their opinion on rationalisation. The teachers demanded the government to begin the process immediately and complete it by end of June. They also demanded the government to release notification for recruitment of government teachers.
According the school education department, a proposal in this regard has already been sent to the state government, but it is still pending at the Secretariat for approval by the chief minister.
A senior official in the department said, it is likely to be cleared before the academic year begins. No schools will be shut down in the process of rationalisation, he added.