Will root-out transfer mafia from education department: Naeem

Kupwara: To stem out the transfer mafia from the department, Minister of Education, Naeem Akhtar, Thursday said the Department of Education will do away with the traditional, round-the-year transfer system and affect transfers only twice in an academic year.
"The transfer of employees in J&K has become a lucrative industry, but the changes made in the education department have broken the backbone of transfer mafia. From next academic year, education department will issue transfer orders only on two occasions; once during winter holidays in Kashmir, and in Jammu region during summer holidays," Mr Akhtar said. The Education Minister said the female teachers married in districts other than their parent district will be transferred to educational institutions in their new district if they have completed five years in service.
"For female teachers who are widows or divorcees, they will be preferably posted in their own district while as those female teachers whose children require special attention, they will be posted to the location of their choice," Mr Akhtar said, adding that department has made it mandatory for teachers to give one year of their service in the arid Ladakh region.
The education minister was speaking at the Annual Day function of Government Higher Secondary School, Halmatpora. He was also accompanied by Rural Development Minister, Abdul Haq Khan, MP Rajya Sabha, Fayaz Ahmad Mir, MLA Kupwara, Bashir Ahmad Dar, Director School Education, Shah Faesal, DC Kupwara, Rajiv Ranjan, SSP Kupwara, besides officers of civil and police administration.
Mr Akhtar said the Education Department has brought many schools under the process of rationalization which will ensure that quality education is provided to students. "I faced a lot of criticism on the process of rationalization, but the people of Kupwara were the only ones who assured their cooperation. Under the leadership of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, people have started realizing the importance of education which is why the focus has come back on education," he said.
Regretting the lack of faith among people towards the government run schools, the Minister said the people end up paying double for the education of their children by enrolling them at private schools. "It is the people who run both the private as well as the government schools. The later are funded by public exchequer, but we also pay for the education of our children at private schools," he said.