: A section of higher secondary teachers have raised apprehension regarding the functioning of a committee set up by the government to look into their general transfer.
The committee, set up by an order of the Kerala Administrative Tribunal on October 1, is to evaluate the procedure adopted for the transfer of teachers and find out if it was foolproof. The teachers had approached the tribunal seeking revision of norms and a stay on the transfer.
Though teachers were to be given an opportunity to depose before the committee, they alleged that the commission had not, till date, provided them an official platform to have their say. The teachers have also raised doubts about how the evaluation of transfer procedure and rectification of anomalies on the transfer list, among other things, would be possible within two weeks, the time within which the committee has been tasked with submitting its report.
The teachers have called for cancellation of the “one-sided transfer list” and reprocessing it as their seniority has been “ignored” in most cases. The KAT order says it is up to the discretion of the committee to maintain status quo. However, delay in taking a decision is creating anxiety among the teaching fraternity and creating financial burden on account of extra strength of teachers against the sanctioned posts for each subject in schools, the teachers say.
They say the mid-year transfers can be viewed only with suspicion of corruption and partiality. Besides academic responsibilities, they also acts as NSS conveners, career guides, Souhrida and arts/science club conveners and so on. The losers on account of the untimely transfers will be the student community, they say.
They have urged the commission to arrive at a strategy to implement the transfers by the last week of May so as to benefit all involved, personally and professionally.
Teachers say they have not been given an official platform to have their say.
