Jaipur: The Urdu Teachers Association in Rajasthan has alleged discrimination in the state’s recent teacher transfer exercise, claiming that Urdu teachers have been shifted out of schools with large enrolments in the language, leaving hundreds of students without subject teachers in minority-dominated areas.The association said several experienced Urdu teachers posted in Jaipur schools were transferred to distant districts such as Alwar without replacements, affecting students who study Urdu as a third language.At Govt Senior Secondary School, Rajiv Nagar Bhatta Basti, 308 students from Classes 6 to 10 study Urdu, but the school’s Urdu teacher has been transferred to Govt Senior Secondary School, Kaimasa, in Alwar district.At Govt Senior Secondary School, Manpur Sadwa, around 650 students from Classes 6 to 12 have opted for Urdu, but the teacher has been shifted to a school in Khairthal-Tijara district. Similarly, the Urdu teacher at Mahatma Gandhi Govt School, Ramganj, where about 280 students study the language, has also been transferred to Alwar.The association also highlighted the transfer of senior Urdu teacher Sijawal Khan from Govt Senior Secondary School, Sagron Ki Basti, in Jaisalmer to a school in Barmer where, it claimed, no students are enrolled for Urdu.“Several Urdu teacher posts in minority-dominated areas of Jaipur have fallen vacant after the transfers. In some schools, almost every student studies Urdu as a third language, yet teachers have been shifted without replacements. This will seriously disrupt Urdu education,” said Ameen Kayamkhani, state president of the Rajasthan Urdu Teachers Association.Khan, who was transferred from Jaisalmer to Barmer, said students would bear the brunt of the transfers. “My previous school had 70-80 students studying Urdu. They now have no teacher. The alternative subject is Sanskrit, but there is no Sanskrit teacher either. Ultimately, students are paying the price,” he said.On Friday, the education department constituted two committees to examine transfer-related grievances involving widows, single women, differently abled employees, personnel with serious medical conditions, long-serving staff and spouse cases. Urdu teachers, however, said the mechanism does not provide any avenue to raise subject-specific concerns.TOI contacted education minister Madan Dilawar for a response, but no comment was received till the time of publication.
