The State Government plans to bring an Act to streamline the transfer of teachers and ensure that all teachers serve compulsorily in rural areas, Kimmane Rathnakar, Minister for primary and secondary education said in Bidar on Sunday.
He was reacting to complaints from teachers that some of their colleagues had never served in villages, while they were retiring after working only in villages.
He said he was well aware of the problem as some teachers and officials were reluctant to serve in villages, despite knowing that rural schools suffer from scarcity of teachers and staff. “Do you think we should pass a law to ensure five years of rural service for all teachers?,” he questioned. Teachers agreed with the suggestion by clapping vigorously.
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The minister said that a state-level meeting will be organised in Bengaluru in September to receive grievances from teachers. This will address individual problems. The feedback received will also be used to draft policy and implement schemes, he said.
He said that the State Government had taken several steps to help teachers. For the first time since independence, primary school teachers have been given the opportunity for promotion. Assistant teachers have been promoted as head masters. Head masters have been given other administrative responsibilities, he said. “We helped over 10,000 high school teachers get time-bound promotions, by easing some service rules. This step was pending for 12 yeas,” he said.
The interaction with the minister was organised by the Department of Education. Over 700 teachers participated.
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Sharanappa Mattur, MLC, Sharat. B, Zilla panchayat chief executive officer, N. Chandre Gowda, deputy director of public instruction, M.K. Gadage deputy director of pre-university education, and others were present.