The decision of state cabinet to approve the Arunachal Pradesh Teachers Transfer & Posting Policy, 2020, is a step in the right direction. As per this policy, all the government schools will be divided into three categories – hard, middle and soft. All the new recruits will be initially given hard posting for a mandatory period of three years, including probationary posting, and subsequently middle posting for five years. The policy is based somewhat on the model of posting of IAS and IPS officers. The unequal distribution of teachers is often cited as one of the major reasons for the poor performance of the students studying in the government-run schools of the state.
At present, most of the teachers are posted in either the capital complex or in the district headquarters. These teachers use their political influence to get favourable postings. Due to this, there is inequality in the distribution of teachers. Therefore, the adoption of the Arunachal Pradesh Teachers Transfer & Posting Policy, 2020, has the potential to break the monopoly, and will help the education department in executing the transfer of teachers. As the government schools will be divided into three categories and the teachers’ transfers will be done according to it, in future they will not be able to use political influence to get postings of their choice. The education department should be given a free hand to carry out the transfers and postings as per the requirements at the ground level. There may be some exceptional cases, such as medical grounds, which cannot be ignored; but apart from it, transfer and posting of teachers should be done strictly as per the new policy.