23 Thousand Primary Teachers Transferred! Why Education Department Takes the Major Step?
Primary Teachers Transfer: In a major move to balance the student-teacher ratio in primary schools across the state, the School Education Department has issued a significant order. Through a notification released on Friday, approximately 23,145 primary teachers have been instructed for transfer. The directive clearly states that this transfer process will be conducted within the districts to ensure that no school suffers from a teacher shortage and that the learning process remains uninterrupted.
This transfer decision is based on data collected from the ‘Banglar Shiksha Portal’ in September last year. The data revealed a peculiar situation. It was found that in various schools across the state, there is a surplus of around 23,145 teachers, meaning the number of teachers is significantly higher than the number of students. On the contrary, other schools in the state are facing a deficit of about 23,962 teachers, where the student count is much higher than the available teachers. To address this stark disparity, the decision has been made to redistribute teachers among schools under the 22 District Primary School Councils. The entire process will be overseen by the Primary Education Department.
Mixed Reactions to the Directive
As soon as this decision by the School Education Department became public, it garnered mixed reactions from various teacher organisations and education experts.
Welcoming the Decision: Ananda Handa, the General Secretary of the Bangiya Prathamik Shiksha Samiti, has welcomed the initiative. He stated, “This is a belated realization. We had proposed this step much earlier. Had this decision been taken sooner, the schools would not have reached such a sorry state.” According to him, this move will have a positive impact on the state’s education system.
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Join on TelegramQuestioning the Statistics: On the other hand, the Shikshanuragi Oikya Mancha has raised questions about the statistics presented by the education department. The organisation’s General Secretary, Kinkar Adhikari, said, “The numbers for surplus and deficit have been shown to be almost the same. This implies that despite no regular recruitment, the department is claiming there is almost no teacher shortage.” He further alleged that due to a lack of adequate infrastructure, engaging teachers in non-academic duties, and various other reasons, the number of students in primary schools is rapidly declining. Mr. Adhikari demanded immediate improvement in primary education and the recruitment of teachers and non-teaching staff in vacant positions to prevent the continuous drop in student enrolment.
Overall, while this transfer decision is a crucial step towards restoring balance in the state’s primary education, questions about its effectiveness and long-term impact remain.
