COIMBATORE: Part-time teachers heaved a sigh of relief as Samagra Shiksha has announced the schedule for holding transfer counselling. R Gomathi, who travels around 230 km from Coimbatore to Madurai by bus three times a week , is one among the thousands of teachers who would benefit.
“I completed B.Ed but could not become a regular teacher. I joined as part-time instructor in 2012 and was appointed as drawing teacher at a government school at Vadipatti in Madurai. Ever since, I have been travelling three times a week from Coimbatore by bus, which is exhausting as the long travel takes a toll on the body. I suffered miscarriage when I was pregnant for the second times due to long travel, I draw salary of Rs 10,000 but spend half of it on transport.” She is looking forward for the transfer counselling process next month. “I can choose to work at a school in Coimbatore now. It will be a huge relief to part-time instructors, especially women who work in other districts,” she said happily.
Tamilaga Paguthi Nera Sirapasriyar Sangam general secretary D Rajadevaganth told TNIE, “Like Gomathi, thousands of female part-time instructors are working in other districts. Due to difficulty, thousands of teachers left their job in the last ten years in the state. We had been demanding that transfer counselling be conducted. After six years, Samagra Shiksha is conducting transfer counselling, which is great news.”
A senior officer from Samagra Shiksha told , “During the Jacto-Geo conference held at Chennai recently, Chief Minister MK Stalin assured that transfer counselling will be conducted to part-time instructors. Based on it, online counselling will be conducted on December 7. Guidelines for the counselling have been released on Thursday.”
Part-time instructors have started to submit applications with the headmasters from Friday to participate in counselling. Chief Educational Officers have been instructed to upload part-time instructors’ details at EMIS portal by November 30.
According to the sources, as many as 12,192 part-time instructors are working in the state and they are teaching special subjects such as drawing, music, sewing, etc to students from Classes 6 to 8 at government schools for three half days in a week.