'5K schools may be closed for mass transfer of teacher couples'

As many as 5,000 government schools may have to be closed down if the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) accepts requests for transfer of 16,000 teacher couples across the State, Minister for Primary and Secondary Education Kimmane Ratnakar said on Friday.

Most of these teachers, both couples, are posted at schools in Raichur, Yadgir and Chamarajanagar districts.

The institutions will be in a crisis if replacements are not made available, Ratnakar added.
Responding to a question by Y A Narayanswamy of the BJP in the Legislative Council, the minister said that for the time being the Department of Public Instruction would bring in special amendments to the Cadre and Recruitment (C&R) rules to ensure that 11,000 teachers, to be hired shortly, would replace the teacher couples seeking transfers to the same location.

Within same taluk

At present, the department considers one taluk as a unit and is trying to transfer every couple to a school within the same taluk. Of the 16,000 teacher couples, 39 per cent have married in the last five years and are seeking a transfer, Ratnakar said.

“About 7.5 per cent of the teacher couples have been seeking a transfer for the last 10 years,” he added.

“All of them will be transferred on a priority basis to one or the other taluk.”

Ratnakar also said he had already requested the government to recruit 4,000 more teachers so that the crisis arising out of the transfer of teacher couples was resolved.