Kohima: The Nagaland government has temporarily halted the transfer and posting of 1,650 government school teachers across the state, following growing opposition from various student bodies and concerns about the process’s execution.
In a notification issued on Monday, Thavaseelan K, Principal Director of the Department of School Education, announced that the transfer and posting orders dated February 6 and February 10 would be put on hold until further review.
The decision was made “in the interest of public service” and pending further examination.
Earlier this month, the Department of School Education had issued a series of transfer and posting orders as part of the rationalisation of teachers in government schools across the state.
On February 6, the department announced the re-deployment of 278 mathematics and science graduate teachers, while on February 10, a notification was issued for the transfer of 840 primary teachers, 341 graduate teachers, and 191 graduate Hindi and undergraduate Hindi teachers.
The teachers were directed to join their new posts within seven days of the announcement, with a warning that failure to comply would result in the withholding of their salaries.
However, the rationalisation process faced significant opposition from student bodies across the state.
They expressed serious concerns, claiming the process was poorly planned, arbitrary, and lacked proper groundwork and statistical analysis.
The student organisations also noted that the district authorities were not consulted, which they argued led to chaos and uncertainty within the academic community.
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They contended that the hasty transfers disrupted not only the academic environment but also posed a threat to the future of students.
While the government had previously defended the rationalisation policy, asserting that no requests for retention or reconsideration would be entertained, the department has now agreed to review specific concerns.
Kekhrielhoulie Yhome, Advisor to the Department of School Education and SCERT, reaffirmed that the rationalisation process would continue, but the department would revisit cases where exceptional issues arose.