I AM a primary school teacher (BPS 14) posted at the Government Girls Primary School (GGPS) Dodo Birhmani in Wahi Pandhi union council (UC) of Johi taluka. The school is about a couple of kilometres away from my house, and I have been serving there without salary for many months.

The office of the secretary, Sindh School Education and Literacy Department (SELD), recently transferred me from the said school on the pretext of teachers being in excess in the school. I use the term ‘pretext’ because there is actually a shortage of teachers there, as every class has over 60 students against the officially established limit of 25. As such, the school needed at least six more teachers when my transfer order was issued.

The new place of posting is far from my residence, and is also not within the jurisdiction of Wahi Pandhi UC. It is worth mentioning that the recruitment is based on UCs and is non-transferable for three years.

Being a woman, it is very difficult for me to travel daily to another UC that is at least 15km away from my house. Such transfers badly affect the mental health of teachers and disrupt academic activi- ties at schools which are already facing shortage of teachers. I can only hope that the SELD chief would reconsider the ground realities and cancel the transfer.

Shazia Sindho
Dadu

Published in Dawn, March 23rd, 2023