PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Wednesday directed the elementary and secondary education department to respond to a petition filed by several schoolteachers against the ‘non-implementation’ of e-transfer policy outside districts.

A bench consisting of Justice Lal Jan Khattak and Justice Mussarat Hilali issued notices to the secretary and director of E&SE department seeking their response on next hearing to the petition of Abdul Rahim Khan and 44 other male and female teachers serving in different districts.

The petitioners sought directives for the respondents, including the secretary and director, to implement e-transfer policy in letter and spirit in respect of their inter-district transfer.

The petition also named the provincial government through the chief secretary as a respondent.

Schoolteachers call for policy’s inter-district implementation

The petitioners’ counsel, Abbas Khan Sangeen, said the provincial government had launched a mobile phone application in Aug 2019 for the teachers desirous to be transferred to schools of their choice.

He added that since then, the E&SE department invited applications through e-transfer application/ system from all the teachers, who wished their transfer at the start of new education session.

The lawyer said on June 8, 2021, the E&SE department had uploaded a post on its official Facebook page in respect of e-transfer policy.

He added that in consequence to the said post the petitioners had submitted their online applications, which were scrutinized and verified accordingly.

The counsel claimed that transfer orders of several other teachers were issued except the petitioners and some other teachers.

He said in accordance with the e-transfer policy mechanism, the computer generated recommendations of transfers of the petitioners had also been issued, but the E&SE’s secretary was reluctant to issue the same.

The lawyer said when the petitioners approached the secretary in this regard, they were informed that e-transfer policy/ application was only for intra-district (within a district) transfers and not to inter-district transfers of teachers.

He contended that they had submitted their representation on e-transfer website, in response of which it was mentioned that due to ban on inter-district transfer their request could not be entertained for the time being.

The counsel said his clients jointly submitted an application to the relevant authorities for relief, but in vain, after which they had no other option but to approach the high court.

He said the act of the respondents was illegal and against the basic norms of justice and therefore, it needed indulgence of the high court.

The lawyer said the senior school teacher (SST) was a provincial cadre post just like that of subject specialists and the headmasters and the e-transfer policy was equally applicable to them, but in their cases the respondents were exercising discrimination which was in violation of Articles 4 and 25 of the Constitution.

He contended that there were several female teachers who got married in districts other than their ancestral one and had applied for transferring to the district of their spouse, but their pleas had also not been accepted.

Published in Dawn, November 11th, 2021