Rawalpindi teachers to be posted within 12km of their homes

City’s educators vow to protest against policy

RAWALPINDI: Punjab education ministry has introduced a rationalisation policy for teachers across the province which will post them in schools near their homes.

In this regard, Punjab Education Minister Murad Raas said the policy would improve the educational system while the process to fine-tune it would continue until November 10.

The policy of transfers and postings for educators will kick in from November 11, he said.

Describing the salient features of the policy, the minister said that male teachers would be deployed in schools within 12 kilometres from their residences while the distance would be reduced to 10 kilometres for female teachers.

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After completion of rationalisation, he added that transfers of teachers on different basis would start from November 11 which would continue until year end.

The minister assured that all teachers’ related affairs including promotions, transfers, deployment, retirement and pensions would be digitised within 14 months.

Raas informed that teachers who were transferred earlier would not be eligible for rationalisation while he rejected the notion that teachers were being sacked in the process. He said surplus teachers would be deployed in schools with deficient staff.

Regarding the number of teachers at different levels, the minister told that primary schools would have three teachers initially while they would be increased to four when the number of students reached 130.

Following the pattern, the minister added that there would be an addition of a teacher on every 50 students unless the school attained 330 students for whom there would be eight teachers altogether.

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He informed that in middle schools, there would be a headmaster and total six teachers including three for Science, English and Arts while the number of teachers would be reduced to five for grade IX and X.

Meanwhile, different teachers’ associations have rejected the policy and the leaders of teachers including Rana Liaquat, Shaifq Bhalwalia and Basharat Iqbal Raja have announced to hold a joint protest against it.

They opined that there would be an increase in early-retirement applications by senior teachers after the enforcement of the proposed rationalisation policy.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 15^th, 2019.