Education Ministry: 8,701 transfer orders issued as part of workforce distribution reform plan
Faisal Matar: The Ministry of Education announced the actual implementation of decisions to redistribute teachers, female teachers, and holders of educational supervisory positions among schools, as part of a comprehensive plan to reform the distribution of the workforce. This initiative is carried out in accordance with the directives of Minister of Education Jalal Al-Tabtabaee, aiming to achieve balance and justice in the allocation of personnel based on the actual needs of schools, enhance stability in educational institutions, and direct human resources to the most needy locations, thereby serving the interests of learners and improving the efficiency of the educational process.
The Ministry clarified in a statement that the Educational Affairs Sector has actively issued 8,703 transfer decisions as part of the redistribution measures. These included 8,310 decisions for teachers and female teachers across various specializations, and 393 decisions for holders of educational supervisory positions. The average transfer distance was recorded at 11.2 kilometers, in compliance with approved controls and standards based on actual school needs, class numbers, student populations, teaching loads, and the approved organizational structure.
The Ministry stated that the implementation of redistribution decisions contributed to raising the rate of addressing disparities in the distribution of teachers, female teachers, and educational supervisors among schools from 34% to 82%. This was achieved while ensuring that the average general transfer distance for relocated staff did not exceed 11.2 kilometers, reflecting a commitment to balancing the fulfillment of actual school needs with the job stability of educational personnel.
The Ministry explained that the remaining percentage is primarily linked to actual surpluses in certain specializations and subjects, such as Islamic Education and Physical Education. In these fields, the number of teachers still exceeds actual school needs even after completing redistribution procedures, limiting the ability to fully address these surpluses through inter-school transfers at this stage. The Ministry affirmed its continued monitoring and handling of these cases according to actual needs and field developments, aiming to achieve an acceptable level of balance, efficiency, and sustainability in workforce distribution.
The Ministry emphasized that the redistribution decisions are part of a regulatory and reformative procedure based on a precise analysis of school data and needs. The goal is to address previous disparities and accumulations in personnel distribution, achieve greater justice in teaching loads and work burdens among teachers, meet school needs, and optimize the use of available human resources. This directly impacts the stability and quality of the educational process.
The Ministry highlighted specific cases addressed, including disparities in Arabic language teacher loads between two middle schools for boys within the same educational zone. In one school, a teacher was assigned one class, while in the other, a teacher was assigned three classes. Redistributing subject teachers between the schools helped balance the number of teachers with the number of classes, achieving greater justice in loads and work burdens.
Furthermore, the plan addressed disparities in Physics teacher distribution between two secondary schools for boys. One school had only two Physics teachers, while the other had eight. Physics teachers were redistributed between the schools in proportion to the number of classes, students, and actual needs, resulting in a distribution more consistent with educational requirements, ensuring justice in loads, and guaranteeing the fulfillment of student needs.
The Ministry noted that treatment measures extended to educational supervisory positions. Data revealed 12 technical supervisors in one kindergarten, who were then redistributed to several kindergartens with actual needs, in alignment with the approved organizational structure. This maximized the use of supervisory competencies, helped meet kindergarten needs, and enhanced work efficiency.
The measures also included the redistribution of several assistant principals and department heads for various subjects among schools, based on actual needs and the approved organizational structure. This aimed to address surpluses in some schools and fill needs in others, complete the staffing of the organizational structure, and enable school administrations to perform their responsibilities efficiently and stably.
The Ministry affirmed that these cases reflect the practical approach underpinning the redistribution plan, starting from identifying surpluses and needs, comparing loads, class numbers, and student populations, to redirecting personnel according to actual demand. This makes redistribution a regulatory tool that contributes to achieving justice among schools and teachers, meeting educational needs, and maximizing the use of available human resources.
The Ministry pointed out that achieving an 82% completion rate represents an advanced stage in implementing the reorganization plan. Relevant authorities continue to review school data and specializations where teacher surpluses persist, working to address them according to actual needs and approved standards, aiming to complete plan targets and consolidate a more just, balanced, and sustainable distribution of the workforce in the educational field.
The Ministry clarified that transfer decisions are sent electronically to concerned parties via the "My Decisions" service on the Ministry’s official website and the Ministry of Education app. It called on all those issued transfer decisions to review them, commence work at their new duty stations, and complete fingerprint transfer procedures in accordance with approved regulations, ensuring swift implementation and orderly school operations.
The Ministry stressed that workforce reorganization is part of a vision aimed at raising school performance efficiency by aligning personnel distribution with the actual and changing needs of the field. It affirmed that the success of these measures is not measured solely by the number of implemented decisions, but by their ability to create sustainable balance between school needs and available personnel, thereby enhancing the readiness of educational institutions and supporting school administrations in fulfilling their roles as intended.
The Ministry concluded its statement by reaffirming that workforce reorganization is fundamentally driven by the interests of learners and school needs. It emphasized that achieving justice in the distribution of teachers, supervisory personnel, and teaching loads is a cornerstone for environmental stability and educational quality. The Ministry stressed the continuation of addressing disparities and surpluses based on accurate data and unified standards, ensuring that competencies are directed to actual need locations, enabling schools to perform their mission efficiently, and consolidating sustainable regulatory solutions that prevent the recurrence of imbalances in human resource distribution in the future.
