Two days after Education Minister Atishi instructed the Education Department to stop transferring government school teachers, the department issued transfer orders for approximately 5,000 teachers on its official website late Tuesday night.
The annual transfer policy requires the transfer of teachers who have been at the same school for more than 10 years.
On Wednesday, Atishi issued a show-cause notice to the Secretary of Education and the Directorate of Education for “disobeying” her order, citing Article 239 AA, which “gives the Delhi government power to exercise over matters in the Concurrent List.”
Meanwhile, the Government Schools Teachers’ Association (GSTA) has also voiced its concerns. Its General Secretary, Ajay Veer Yadav, has written to the Directorate of Education (DoE) and the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, requesting the formation of a grievance redressal committee for all transferred teachers.
A delegation of four to five government school teachers, including Yadav, plans to meet the Director of Education on Thursday to discuss their concerns. Yadav emphasized that the issues of teachers with medical conditions, those nearing retirement, those who are physically challenged, and those facing long commutes should be addressed transparently.
Praveen Sharma, 36, who has taught at a government school in Sultanpuri for the past 14 years, stated, “This decision will affect the student-teacher relationship to some extent. Besides, it will affect teachers who have illness or who are handicapped…”
Previously, Deputy Director of Education Sushitha Biju issued a circular on June 11, seeking online transfer requests from teaching staff in government schools under the DoE. “All the teachers who have completed 10 years continuously in the same school shall compulsorily apply online… for transfer on the basis of mutual or general opting for maximum number of schools,” read the circular. It also noted that teachers who do not apply as required would be transferred to any school by the headquarters.
Following this decision, the GSTA appealed to the DoE to reconsider, arguing that the decision would impact the student-teacher relationship. They claimed that the authority had verbally assured them that the transfers would not be enforced and would be made voluntary. Yadav suggested that the issue was being politicized deliberately.