K-P launches e-transfer system for schoolteachers

CM’s education adviser says the online, app-based system will eliminate political interference

PESHAWAR: The provincial government on Thursday put into practice another reform in the education sector of the province, inaugurating an electronic transfer management system for government-employed teachers in the province.

The E-transfer policy for teachers of the Elementary and Secondary Education Department (E&SED) was kicked off by the Adviser to the Chief Minister on Education (ACME) Ziaullah Bangash in Peshawar on Thursday.

Addressing the launch ceremony, Bangash said that the provincial government aims to bring about reforms in the education sector of the province and through the use of modern technology.

“We are hiring 25,000 teaching staff in the province to fulfil the needs of the department and bringing more students into schools while we will also hire some 4,000 ASTs this year,” the adviser said, adding that under the new policy, the provincial government was aiming to maintain a minimum ratio of four teachers per school.

The e-transfer policy and its corresponding software application, he said, will make the process of transferring and posting teachers fair, merit-based and transparent with zero political interference — in line with the new provincial teacher transfer policy.

The system, he added, will prevent political parties from utilising their influence in the transfer or posting any teacher, especially in remote areas, especially ‘revenge transfers’. “In case of any grievance, teachers will be able to register complaints [against their transfer],” he said, adding that the system will improve service delivery because teachers will no longer have to ignore their classes to visit the district education offices to request transfers or postings.

Further, he said that teachers will now have to fulfil minimum tenure requirements for transfers which stipulate that a teacher must have spent at least three years in a school in a ‘plain area’ and 1.5 years at a school in a ‘hard area’.

Educational supplies for Baka Khel Camp School

Muslim Aid Pakistan on Thursday handed over educational supplies to the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA). The educational supplies include school uniforms, shoes and chairs for some 1,500 marginalised and deserving students at the primary level. 

Published in The Express Tribune, August 2^nd, 2019.