PESHAWAR: The newly introduced e-transfer system of the Higher Education Department (HED) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has caused unrest among teachers, who have termed the policy restrictive and impractical.
Teachers have alleged that instead of facilitating transfers, the new system has effectively closed the door for a large number of them, particularly those serving in remote and hardship areas for years and seeking transfers to their home districts.
Under the new criteria, teachers can apply for transfer only if a vacant post of both the same subject and the same grade is available in the college where they want to be transferred. Teachers have questioned the rationale behind the condition, saying it has made a large number of otherwise eligible teachers ineligible for transfer.
They pointed out that if a vacant post of a particular subject exists in a college but belongs to Grade-18 while the applicant is a Grade-17 teacher, the teacher cannot apply for the post. They said the condition was particularly problematic because the department had for years adjusted teachers against available vacancies under the subject-adjustment mechanism without strictly linking the placement to the grade of the vacant post.
According to the teachers, the new “subject-wise and grade-specific” condition has created a serious contradiction in the department’s transfer and staffing policies. They claimed that more than 80 per cent of teachers could potentially be excluded from the transfer process because of the condition.
Teachers also questioned the manner in which vacant posts have been uploaded to the e-Transfer portal. They said several colleges had advertised between five and 20 posts for temporary hiring, yet these vacancies were not appearing on the transfer portal.
“If these posts are vacant and colleges are hiring against them, the same vacancies should also have been reflected on the e-Transfer portal,” argued a teacher.They alleged that several colleges had not uploaded their complete vacant position data, making it difficult for teachers to identify genuine vacancies and apply for transfers accordingly. They urged the HED to give colleges at least seven to 10 days to upload and update their vacant positions before closing or restricting the transfer process.
The teachers also referred to the government’s policy of discouraging further regular recruitment and said the current e-Transfer mechanism appeared inconsistent with the staffing requirements of colleges.
They said colleges frequently hired temporary or visiting teachers according to their annual workload requirements. “In many colleges, 20 to 25 people are hired every year according to the workload, but these positions are not being shown as vacant on the e-Transfer portal,” said another teacher.
According to them, the situation gives the impression that colleges need teachers, but the department does not intend to make the posts available for regular staff adjustment or transfer.
Teachers maintained that the e-Transfer system should be designed as a transparent mechanism to facilitate genuine transfers rather than restrict them through rigid technical conditions. They called for the “subject-wise and grade-specific” requirement to be reviewed and relaxed, particularly in cases where a genuine vacancy exists and the teacher can be accommodated without adversely affecting the academic needs of the institution.
They further demanded that all vacant posts should be accurately reflected on the portal and that colleges be provided adequate time to update their vacancy positions.They urged the HED to review the policy in consultation with representatives of the teaching community and introduce a mechanism that balances administrative requirements with the legitimate transfer needs of teachers.
