[ Mingkeng Osik ]

PASIGHAT, 22 Sep: The Bogong Banggo Yameng Kebang (BBYK) has strongly opposed the ongoing mass transfer and rationalisation of teachers in East Siang district, urging the Education Department to immediately review and reconsider the transfer orders, which the organisation termed "irrational and illogical."

The BBYK raised the issue during a press briefing on Monday, stating that a representation had also been submitted through the East Siang deputy commissioner to the commissioner of education, GoAP, seeking urgent reconsideration of the transfers.

BBYK president Magyar Lego said the organisation was concerned that the rationalisation exercise could further aggravate the shortage of teachers in several schools of East Siang.

According to the figures presented by the BBYK, the district has 123 government schools, comprising seven higher secondary schools, 19 secondary schools, 43 middle schools and 61 primary schools.

Lego particularly highlighted the situation at Government Higher Secondary School, Pasighat (IGJ), describing it as one of the oldest educational institutions in the district. He claimed that the school has around 1,400 students from Class 9 to 12, with five sections in Class 9, four in Class 10, seven in Class 11 and seven in Class 12.

According to the BBYK president, the school is facing a serious shortage of teaching personnel, with only two PGTs and two TGTs reportedly handling the large student population. He questioned how such a limited number of teachers could adequately cater to the academic requirements of hundreds of students.

Lego further said that East Siang is already facing a deficit of around 69 teachers, while approximately 63 teachers have now been transferred under the latest exercise.

The organisation also questioned the transfer of teachers who, according to the BBYK, "have been assigned duties such as BLO, census and SIR-related responsibilities." Lego referred to a government notification issued on 21 May, 2026 DSE-1101/9/2022, which, he said, provided for exemption of teachers engaged in such duties, and questioned why some of them were subsequently included in the transfer orders.

The BBYK president also raised the issue of Mirbuk Secondary School, Pasighat, claiming that the institution has only two Hindi teachers, and that both have been transferred without replacement.

"Who will teach the students?" he questioned, stressing that the department should ensure replacement teachers before relieving existing staff.

The organisation also invoked the newly enacted Arunachal Pradesh Transfer and Posting ofEmployees of Education Department (Regulation and Management) Act, 2026. The Act provides a framework for rationalisation and redeployment based on verified data, including sanctioned posts, working strength, subject-wise requirements and institutional needs. It also states that rationalisation should take into account pupil-teacher ratios and academic continuity.

However, the Act also permits administrative transfers in public interest, administrative exigency and institutional necessity, including transfers made to correct staff shortages or surpluses. It further allows certain administrative transfers notwithstanding minimum-tenure requirements.

The BBYK therefore called for the transfer exercise to be scrutinised school-by-school and subject-by-subject, instead of relying only on numerical rationalisation.

Lego also questioned the decision of the education minister concerning the feeder-college arrangement for students from Shi-Yomi district, stating that students from the district's higher secondary schools should have appropriate access to their designated feeder institutions. He specifically referred to the alleged routing of students towards JN College, Pasighat, and argued that the matter requires reconsideration in the interest of students from the respective districts.

BBYK spokesperson Dangki Ering also appealed to the Education Department and the education minister to review the transfer exercise, particularly in view of Pasighat's role as an educational hub of the eastern belt.

Ering said the organisation has noticed several issues in the transfer list, and claimed that even names of retired teachers had appeared in the transfer-related documents. He called for constituting a committee to scrutinise the list and verify the actual staffing position of individual schools.

He further said the organisation has examined the teacher availability in schools, and claimed that several institutions do not have sufficient teachers for the number of students enrolled. The BBYK maintained that staffing decisions should be based on actual classroom requirements, subject availability and student strength.

The organisation also expressed concern over the timing of the transfers, pointing out that half-yearly examinations are currently underway in schools. The BBYK argued that shifting teachers during the middle of an academic term could disrupt classroom teaching and affect students' preparation and examination performance.

The Education Department's official teachers'registry portal confirms that the state has undertaken multiple rounds of rationalisation and transfer in 2026, including separate transfer and posting orders for PGTs, TGTs and PRTs, it said.

The BBYK has now demanded that the education department recall or reconsider transfer orders where genuine anomalies are found and conduct a proper scrutiny of the affected schools and teachers.

Lego said the organisation would wait for the government to respond to its representation, and demanded action within 15 days.

Failing a satisfactory response, he warned that the BBYK would launch a mass democratic movement against what it described as an unfair and disruptive transfer exercise.

The organisation said its primary concern is not merely the transfer of individual teachers but the potential impact of the exercise on students, classroom teaching and the overall functioning of schools in East Siang.