How new teacher transfer policy will bring transparency in regime

The Haryana’s Additional Chief Secretary of the School Education Department recently came out with the Teacher Transfer Poilcy-2025. The merit merit-based transfer policy is touted to be yet another initiative by the Nayab Singh Saini government to instill more transparency in the teachers’ transfers, which have traditionally thrived on “sifarish-based” discredited system.

What is the most-prominent feature of the new policy?

The new policy, an improved version of the 2023 policy, does away with the zoning system. Now, teachers can opt for any school across Haryana directly.

How the new policy adopts a “carrot-and-stick” approach?

In the policy, certain categories of teachers, including spinsters, widows, widowers, divorced individuals, teachers suffering from serious illnesses and those with disabilities, will get special weightage of up to 20 points. However, tainted teachers — those facing disciplinary proceedings — will lose 10 marks during the transfer process.

 What is the most-dominant criteria for online transfer?

Age continues to be the dominant criterion, carrying up to 60 points out of the composite score of 80 in the new transfer regime.

What is the weightage given to couple cases?

The weightage given to couple cases has been reduced from 10 to five marks. Now, only one of the spouses will get five marks.

What is the Education Minister’s take on the policy?

Education Minister Mahipal Dhanda has termed the policy as equitable, demand-based with the ultimate aim of improving the academic standards. He claimed that the policy would lead to further transparency in teachers’ transfers as it had been brought after due deliberations with all stakeholders.

Will financial incentives for teachers posted in hard-to-serve areas continue?

Yes. Under the previous policy, the teachers who selected the ‘anywhere in the state’ option and were posted in hard-to-serve areas like Morni Hills or Mewat got rewarded with an additional 10 per cent of the basic pay plus dearness allowance (for regular teachers) or Rs 10,000 for guest teachers. The incentives will continue for those opting for or continuing in the schools located in the Morni block of Panchkula, the Hathin block of Palwal or Nuh district.

When will the state government hold transfer drive?

The state government will conduct general annual online transfer drive shortly. The Education Department will notify the much-delayed transfer process under the new policy.

Can the teachers still seek mid-term transfers?

When the online transfer window is closed, the 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.

What are special incentives for women teachers?

The women teachers, who are newly married, been widowed, divorced or judicially separated will also be allowed to submit manual representations for preferred postings against available vacancies.

When was the online teacher transfer policy started in Haryana?

Haryana became the first state in the country to launch the online teacher transfer policy in 2016 under then CM Manohar Lal Khattar. Several states, including neighbouring Punjab and Chandigarh, later replicated the Haryana model. Several transfer drives, including in 2017, 2019 and 2022, were conducted under the revamped online policy earning high level of satisfaction from the teaching community.