Teachers from 13 districts in Telangana met some prominent ministers of the state and other government officials today, March 8, on the occasion of International Women's Day. Submitting representations highlighting their problems to education Minister Sabitha Indra Reddy, the teachers have urged for a quick redressal.
It has been 15 months now that government school teachers who are spouses are suffering due to being placed in different districts. Vivek S, President of the Telangana Spouse Forum, who is also a teacher, says, "Many teachers, most of who are women, have to travel 200-300 km daily to work. In many cases, the husband and wife are having to stay separate, with kids having to adjust with either parent."
"In a few other cases, one child is staying with the father, while the other has to stay with the mother. Their schooling is affected this way, and often the two siblings study in separate schools," he adds. The Spouse Forum had organised a silent protest, demanding the transfer of spouses to the same district, on January 21 this year.
Hundreds of teachers from across Telangana had gathered in front of the Directorate of School Education in Hyderabad. According to the President, the process of allotment of teachers to districts was done in December 2021 in the state as per the 2018 Presidential Orders. Concerning this allotment, the government made it clear that the teachers who are husband and wife should be allotted posts in districts of their choice as per Circular Memo Number 1655.
However, the correct allotment process was not followed, and about 2,000 teachers were separated from their spouses. they applied for transfers, but only 615 of them were approved, while all others are pending. "Today, the teachers wished Minister Reddy a happy Women's Day and asked her to resolve the matter. she has promised to look into it and said that approving the transfers will take up to 2-3 months. She has asked us to be patient," Vivek said.
He added out of the pending transfer applications, 80 per cent were from women. The forum also held a press conference in Hyderabad today, regarding their issue. In photos shared by the President, teachers can be seen standing with their families, placards in hand, which have slogans like "Together is my favourite place to be" and "Family is not an important thing, it's everything" on them.
