BENGALURU: Primary school teachers of government schools protested against the state government’s decision to compulsorily transfer them to rural areas as per the Karnataka State Civil Services (Regulation of Transfer of Teachers) Amendment Act 2018, on Saturday. As per the amendment, teachers from cities and district headquarters, who have completed 10 years of service, will be transferred to remote areas. Teachers sat outside the Shikshakara Sadana near Mysore Bank Circle and boycotted the counselling for teacher transfers.
“We are all teachers, mostly women above the age of 50, nearing the age of retirement. We have already served in rural areas in the past, whenever they requested us to, owing to vacancies. However, now with these compulsory transfers, most of us, who have families here, have to move to a remote area despite having health problems,” said a teacher on condition of anonymity
“We sat outside the Shikshakara Sadana from 10 am to 4 pm but no one from the Education Department came to speak to us. We cannot boycott counselling entirely as this is our source of livelihood, so we returned later,” the teacher said. “It is unfair that those who have spouses working in government offices are exempt from this transfer despite working in the city for over ten years. This comprises 50 to 60 per cent of the teachers. Some are unwell and exempt. Only 13 per cent of us are targeted for transfer,” she added.
“A teacher working in a Rajajinagar government school has to shift to Nelamangala. We suffer from several health issues that are not recognised by the government which exempts only those with cancer and other serious issues. How can we leave our families and live elsewhere on our own?” the teachers said.
They also alleged that several medical certificates shown by some teachers to gain exemption were fake.