Delhi minister Atishi tells education secretary to withdraw order issued on mandatory transfer of teachers

NEW DELHI: Delhi’s education minister Atishi has ordered the secretary (education) to immediately withdraw the recent mandatory transfer orders for teachers serving in the same schools for more than 10 years.
This comes after the Directorate of Education mandated transfers for teachers who have been at the same school for over a decade. The minister’s intervention ensures that these experienced educators remain in their current positions, countering the directive that threatened reassignment for those not voluntarily applying for a transfer.
The circular had left many teachers unhappy.In this regard, a delegation of teachers met the minister on Monday and handed over a memorandum to her.
Atishi said that a unique relationship exists between a teacher and their student which is built on years of trust. In such a situation, only a narrow administrative aspect cannot be the reason for the transfer of teachers from one school to another. Notably, the National Education Policy, 2020 also talks about improving the relationship between teachers and students and stopping the harmful practice of excessive transfer for a better educational environment.
The minister said education has been the top priority of Delhi govt under the leadership of CM Arvind Kejriwal. “In the last few years, we have worked tirelessly to strengthen the education system of Delhi. Teachers are the most important part of any school system and Delhi govt’s effort is to constantly work to increase the capacity and confidence of teachers and not do anything that hurts their dignity. In such a situation, such a decision, where under an administrative order, all the teachers who have completed 10 years in a school have been transferred in one go, should be withdrawn immediately,” she added.
Atishi issued instructions to the secretary (education) in this regard and said that this decision should be withdrawn immediately and no teacher should be transferred just because they have been working in a particular school for more than 10 years. She also sought an action taken report within the next seven days.