GURGAON: At fifty, one barely sees age as an advantage. As per an article by TOI, the Haryana government’s new transfer policy for teachers now prefers 50-year-old male teachers, or those even senior, for senior girls’ schools. Under the new policy, unveiled on July 13, teachers below the age of 50 (as on June 3 0, 2016) will not be eligible for transfer to any government secondary school for girls. The policy is applicable with effect from the academic session 2016-17.
Ram Bilas Sharma, the education minister of Haryana, has said teachers are to submit their choice of schools online for transfer from this academic session onwards. “Any teacher, who has not completed 50 years as on June 30, should not opt for girls’ school. Even if any teacher opts for it, he would not be considered for transfer,” he said.
The decision to limit the transfer of teachers specifically by age has baffled educationists. With an increasing number of young teachers being employed at major private schools and government schools, many point out the negative ramifications of a seemingly archaic ideology.
“While this rule may be founded on noble intentions, I think in practice this would prove to be problematic. By limiting students to contact with only teachers above a certain age, you may be depriving them of the enthusiasm and fresh outlook present in the younger generation of educators that are now enveloping the country,” said Roopa Sinha, a teacher at a renowned private school in Gurgaon.
She added, “Teachers beyond a certain age may lack that zest, and may be outdated in their approach. I think this is a short-sighted move on the part of the government.”
Similarly, Dhirendra Bajaj, an educator at a private school in Gurgaon, told TOI, “I think this rule is quite absurd if you consider the pillars it’s founded on. It implies that all younger male teachers lack that basic moral foundation that makes them dangerous and severely unfit for this position. It also posits that all older teachers have attained a moral capacity that makes them immune to such vile inclinations.”
However, education department officials remain unfazed in the face of these reactions. “This policy has been in effect for a very long time. The recent policy change has only highlighted it and brought it to the forefront of the public eye. The vision of this policy was to improve the distribution of teachers across the state. This measure was taken to protect the interests of the students,” said Neelam Bhandari, the district education officer.
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