Govt unveils merit-based teacher transfer policy

The government is set to roll out a revamped, transparent and merit-based teacher transfer regime with the Nayab Singh Saini-led government unveiling the Teacher Transfer Policy-2025 — an upgraded version of the 2023 policy.

The new policy adopts a clear “carrot-and-stick” approach. Certain categories of teachers, including spinsters, widows, widowers, divorced individuals, teachers suffering from serious illnesses and those with disabilities, will receive special weightage of up to 20 points. Conversely, tainted teachers — those facing disciplinary proceedings — stand to lose 10 marks during the transfer process.

Age will continue to be the dominant criterion, carrying up to 60 points out of the composite score of 80. The weightage for couple cases has been reduced from 10 to 5 marks.

“The primary aim of the policy, which has been brought after detailed deliberations with stakeholders, is to ensure equitable, demand-based distribution of teachers in schools with the ultimate aim of improving the academic standards. The merit-based transfer policy will lead to further transparency in teachers’ transfers,” Education Minister Mahipal Dhanda said.

In a significant departure from the earlier system, the policy scraps the zoning concept altogether, allowing teachers to opt for any school directly.

Under the previous policy, teachers who selected the ‘anywhere in the state’ option were posted in hard-to-serve areas like Morni Hills or Mewat and were rewarded with an additional 10% of basic pay plus dearness allowance (for regular teachers) or Rs 10,000 monthly (for guest teachers). The new policy retains the financial incentive, but now restricts it to those opting for or continuing in schools located in the Morni block of Panchkula, the Hathin block of Palwal or Nuh district.

The government will conduct general online transfers once a year. However, when the online transfer window is closed, teachers may still seek temporary transfers on compelling grounds such as medical emergencies, the death of an immediate family member, or having less than one year left before retirement. Women teachers who have recently married, been widowed, divorced or judicially separated will also be allowed to submit manual representations for preferred postings against available vacancies.