Rationalisation policy: Transfer of surplus school teachers begins in Bengal; younger staff to be moved first

MP, KOLKATA, JULY 27, 2026: The West Bengal School Education Department has begun implementing its surplus teacher rationalisation policy, with district authorities issuing hearing notices to identified teachers ahead of their administrative transfer to schools facing staff shortages.

The exercise follows the department’s revised Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for transferring teachers and non-teaching staff from zero-enrolment schools and redeploying surplus staff to institutions with high pupil-teacher ratios (PTR). The revised SOP was issued within 10 days of the earlier guidelines after objections from sections of teachers over provisions relating to the identification of surplus staff.

In the first phase, the District Inspector of Schools (Secondary Education), East Burdwan, has summoned 25 teachers from 10 schools for a hearing on Monday, July 27, after identifying them as surplus under the rationalisation policy.

Under the SOP, district authorities will first prepare a list of zero-enrolment schools before identifying surplus teachers. All teaching and non-teaching staff posted in such schools will be considered for transfer, while surplus teachers from other schools will also be redeployed to institutions facing teacher shortages.

For secondary schools, surplus teachers will be identified subject-wise. In primary schools, where there are no subject-wise sanctioned posts, the teacher younger in biological age will ordinarily be identified as the surplus teacher first. However, a senior teacher willing to be transferred may opt to be considered surplus, unlike under the earlier SOP, which proposed identifying senior teachers first.

Teachers identified as surplus will be allowed to submit three preferred schools from a published list of institutions with high PTR. If they fail to exercise their options within the stipulated period, or if vacancies are unavailable in their preferred schools, the competent authority will assign them to an identified school based on administrative requirements and educational need.

The SOP also provides for the withdrawal of sanctioned posts from zero-enrolment secondary schools for redeployment elsewhere. If such schools are closed after staff are transferred, the concerned Sub-Inspector of Schools will take charge of the institutions as custodian and report the status of their assets to higher authorities.