Primary school teacher transfers suspended indefinitely

The government has suspended teacher transfers at primary schools indefinitely. The transfer process will remain halted until the appointment and posting of over 14,500 new assistant teachers are completed.

State Minister for Primary and Mass Education Bobby Hajjaj made the announcement while responding to questions from journalists at a press conference at the Secretariat on Monday (September 7), marking International Literacy Day.

The state minister said over 14,500 new teachers would be appointed and posted. Once the postings are completed, the transfer process will resume. However, a decision will be made later on whether transfers will follow the existing policy or a new system will be introduced.

He said, "Teacher transfers have been suspended indefinitely. No timeline has been given." When transfers resume, the existing questions regarding the process will be addressed, he added.

Bobby Hajjaj noted that teacher transfers were scheduled to be suspended from September 8. Although the decision was made a day earlier, finalising official documents is taking some time. Efforts will be made to finalise the transfer suspension order after the press conference, he said.

Responding to allegations that eligible teachers were not being transferred, the state minister said it is difficult to define what constitutes a "justified transfer", as the current policy does not clearly define it. "If eligible teachers are not being transferred, that is the real problem. Because what constitutes a justified transfer is difficult to define. It has not been defined yet, nor has it been specified in the policy," he said.

Meanwhile, work is underway to formulate a new pay structure for primary teachers. The Directorate of Primary Education has already started work on this. After receiving the directorate's proposal, the ministry will formulate the policy and take the final decision, the state minister added.