Bandipora, April 6: A day after a surprise inspection revealed widespread absenteeism among teachers in Gurez schools, the Jammu and Kashmir Teachers Forum (JKTF) has stepped forward urging the administration to take a compassionate and humanitarian view of the matter, citing prolonged service in hard zones and unfulfilled transfer commitments.
According to JKTF Bandipora, around 150 teachers and masters who were posted to Gurez under the Annual Transfer Drive (ATD) have completed more than three years in the remote and difficult terrain — well beyond the one-year term they were initially promised. Many of them, citing verbal and written assurances from the education authorities, had returned to Bandipora recently in anticipation of the ATD-2024 repatriation list.
However, during a surprise visit by the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Gurez on April 5, about 30 teachers were found absent from duty. The SDM later recommended disciplinary action, triggering panic among the teaching community.
“Taking punitive action against teachers who have already served in one of the harshest environments for over three years is deeply unjust,” said a JKTF spokesperson Anjum Nisar in a statement. “These educators were assured transfers back after a year. Now, after three years and numerous delays, penalizing them for believing in the promises of the administration is unfair.”
The teachers argue that they had vacated their accommodations in Gurez following a recent assurance by Director School Education Kashmir, Dr. G.N. Itoo, that the ATD list would be issued shortly. The severe winter conditions in Gurez further compounded the difficulty of continuing to stay in the area without clarity about their future postings.
General Secretary of the Forum for Bandipora district said the UT General Secretary Mir Bashir has taken up the matter with concerned and has appealed to the Director of School Education and the Chief Education Officer Bandipora to adopt a lenient approach towards the absent teachers and ensure immediate issuance of the repatriation list to resolve the stalemate.
Parents in some villages have also expressed concern, calling for resolution of the issue without impacting the academic calendar. “Both the teachers and students are suffering due to administrative delays. There should be a transparent and timely transfer policy, especially for hard zones like Gurez,” said a local resident of Chorwan.