Srinagar, Jul 30 (KNS): The Jammu and Kashmir School Education Department (SED) is facing mounting criticism over a controversial directive that deploys teaching staff to administrative duties, despite an existing government order explicitly prohibiting such attachments.

At the center of the issue is a glaring contradiction between two government directives. The first, Government Order No. 1691-JK(EDU) of 2021, issued a sweeping ban on the attachment of teachers to non-teaching roles. It directed all teaching staff to return to their substantive school postings, warning of disciplinary action for non-compliance.

However, in an apparent disregard of this standing order, the Directorate of School Education Kashmir (DSEK) on July 26, 2025, authorized the deployment of several teachers and masters to the department's Inspection and Monitoring Wings in different parts of Valley. The move, according to the DSEK, was justified under an older directive, Government Order No. 1590-Edu of 2003, which allowed for temporary administrative assignments under specific conditions.

This justification has sparked a strong backlash, with education stakeholders and staff unions alleging that the 2025 order violates the 2021 directive, which they argue supersedes all previous policies. In a formal representation submitted to the Director of School Education, concerned staffers emphasized that no legal or administrative exemption appears to have been obtained to override the 2021 ban, rendering the latest deployments potentially unlawful.

Speaking to KNS, a pan Kashmir group of non-teaching staffers, representatives accused the department of acting in “blatant violation” of its own policy.

“The DSEK has cited a 2003 order which was effectively nullified by the 2021 directive,” a representative said. “That older policy only applied in specific scenarios, such as when a teacher specialized in a subject like Commerce had no enrolled students. Even then, such assignments were capped at a maximum of two years.”

The non-teaching staff body representative pointed out that the 2021 order had reversed all previous teacher deployments to administrative roles due to an acute shortage of classroom staff.Click Here To Follow Our WhatsApp Channel“At a time when schools are already struggling with understaffing, reassigning teachers to desk jobs defies both logic and legality,” they said.

Adding to the controversy, the fresh order reportedly redeploys some of the same teachers who previously served in non-teaching roles, raising questions about favoritism and lack of transparency in the selection process. "DSEK has failed to adhere to even the basic criteria outlined in the 2003 directive, such as selection based on merit, role suitability, and a fixed tenure," said a non-teaching staffer.

“The department seems to have cherry-picked staff without any open merit-based process,” he said, adding, “It’s arbitrary and undermines both governance and educational standards.”

"While the authorities in Kashmir division continue with their own adventurism, the Director of School Education Jammu on the other hand has recently abolished all office cells created under the 2003 orders, aligning with the directives of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020," said another non-teaching staffer. "All teaching staff in the Jammu division have been instructed to return to their core responsibility, the classroom teaching."

"A stark disparity is evident as the Kashmir division continues to retain teachers in administrative desk roles, allegedly to favour select individuals," he remarked, adding, "This inconsistent implementation of government orders not only raises serious concerns about fairness and transparency but also amounts to a grave injustice to students in Kashmir, who continue to suffer due to a shortage of qualified teachers in classrooms."

The non-teaching association has called for transparency and accountability, and urged the Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to intervene as to ensure compliance with existing policies, and prioritize strengthening the teaching workforce for the actual mean and purpose.(KNS)