State to post teachers in their home districts

Kolkata: The state government would give priority to post teachers in their home districts.

The move has been taken for teachers at both primary and Higher Secondary levels to ensure that they do not face the inconvenience of travelling long distances to reach their respective schools.

Partha Chatterjee, state Education minister, made the announcement while speaking at a programme organised on Teachers' Day at Nazrul Manch on Wednesday.

He further maintained that men will also get benefitted but women teachers would be given the first preference.

Chatterjee said: "We have seen that teachers face inconvenience while travelling long distances to reach schools in another district. They need to travel by trains and avail other modes of transport to reach their workplace. Hence, we have decided to give priority to post teachers in their home districts."

Last year's 38,000 transfers could have been averted if the policy was adopted earlier, he further said adding: "If there is no vacant seat in the home district, then neighbouring district will be the next option."

He further said in a bid to ensure proper teacher-student ratio, steps have been taken for a state-wide assessment in this connection.

Stressing the development that took place in the education sector in the past seven years, Chatterjee said at present there are now 38 universities and 51 colleges in Bengal.

In the programme, 60 teachers from universities, colleges, Higher Secondary and primary educational institutions were awarded with "Siksha Ratna". Eleven schools were awarded with the "Best School" award for their academic performance while two received the same award for their performance in sports.