Teachers’ transfer record sought

Punjab government has asked the chief executive officers (CEOs) of all 36 District Education Authorities of the province to submit the record of transfer of teachers during the past three years.

The order has reportedly been issued after a decision to take stern action over suspicion of thousands of illegal transfers in the school education department.

The provincial government has formed a committee to investigate alleged illegal transfers made under the previous government. The committee has been asked to present its report within 30 days after an inquiry with all the districts CEOs.

Sources said the government was planning to take action against those found responsible for illegal transfers under the Punjab Employees Efficiency, Discipline and Accountability (PEEDA) Act.

They said the government was concerned over reports about illegal transfer of teachers during the rule of the PTI and it had sought the relevant record from all districts.

An official of the provincial education department said teachers’ groups had been raising their voice against alleged disregard of merit in transfers in the Punjab School Education Department and had criticised the previous government’s transfer policy.

"The teachers’ community had demanded that Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz take action against illegal transfers in Punjab School Education Department, alleging thousands of transfers made because of political influence or illegal gratification,” the official said.

The Punjab government reviewed the matter and the chief secretary formed the inquiry committee under the supervision of a provincial secretary.

The committee was advised to present its report in 30 days after completing a brief inquiry.

It was given the task to check every district’s transfer record and identify those involved in corruption related to illegal transfers, the official said.

He said the government wanted a revolution in the education sector, which was not possible without the eradication of corruption.

The official said the Punjab School Education Department and chief secretary had received a number of applications from teachers against Illegal transfers in almost all districts of the province.

The previous government introduced an e-transfer policy, but here were allegations of corruption.

The official said thousands of deserving teachers might have suffered because of corruption and nepotism in the department and a number of eligible teachers were waiting for transfer.

“It has been decided that stern action will be taken against those found responsible after the inquiry under the PEEDA Act.

In the second phase, transfers will be start in the education department solely on the basis of merit, the official added.

However, Punjab Teachers Union secretary general Rana Liaqat Ali said while commenting on the matter, "We have always opposed transfers with disregard to merit in the education department but we demand that the government should improve their transfer policy instead of starting inquiries.”

He said that if the current government launched such inquiries then the future rulers would also initiate similar action and the teachers would suffer.

He stressed that the government should introduce a transparent transfer policy that give relief to the teachers who were in favour of transparency in this regard.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 20^th, 2022.