PANAJI
Amid protests by students against the transfer of teachers at three government higher secondary schools, the State Education Department has clarified that the reshuffle was necessitated by the long-pending promotion of 78 teachers and the consequent redeployment of existing lecture-basis teachers.
Students of Government Higher Secondary School, Pernem, Government Higher Secondary School, Valpoi, and Government Higher Secondary School, Sanguem have been protesting against the transfer of teachers from their respective schools.
Sources said that as many as 78 teachers awaiting promotion for several years were promoted last week based on recommendations of the Goa Public Service Commission. “Majority of the teachers have taken charge at various higher secondary schools. With these teachers taking charge, the existing lecture-based teachers had to be transferred or detached,” sources said.
The reshuffle comes against the backdrop of a prolonged shortage of permanent teaching staff in government higher secondary schools. Sources said around 180 permanent teacher posts had remained vacant across several government higher secondary schools for years. “The recruitment process was caught up in legal issues and subsequently there was also a recruitment ban. The process finally started in 2023,” sources said. With permanent positions remaining vacant, lecture-based teachers were engaged by schools as a stop-gap arrangement to ensure that classes continued. Sources claimed that these appointments were made as temporary arrangements at the school level and that proper recruitment procedures were not followed in several cases, with no log books being maintained.
However, the government is now looking at accommodating these teachers under the rules of the Mukhya Mantri Nayan Parav Yojana, sources said.
The Education Department has also questioned the basis of the ongoing student protests, maintaining that the transfers have been necessitated by administrative requirements and the appointment of teachers against permanent posts. Sources in the department suggested that the protests could have been instigated, arguing that students should first assess the performance of the newly appointed teachers.
“We agree that the changes have happened in the middle of the academic term. However, we have provided the schools with the best teachers available. Students should have waited for a week or 15 days to assess their performance. If they were not satisfied, they could have approached the authorities for necessary action,” sources said.
