KANNUR: Taking note of the complaints that many schools were imposing dress codes on women teachers despite clear directives that saree should not be made mandatory, the Education Department has once again clarified that no dress code should be forced upon teachers.
The Education Department made it clear that the government had issued a circular on February 4, 2008, allowing womenteachers to wear churidar or other clothes while on duty. The circular is still inforce and the schools should notforce dress code on teachers. It is also applicable to teachers’ training institutions in the state.The circular should be strictly implemented in all schools and teachers training institutions, an official press release stated.
It also directed Deputy Directors of Education, District Education Officers, heads of District Institution for Education and Training to see to it that no institution or schoolenforces mandatory dress code onteachers. The department noted that some BEd centres were trying to force studentsto wear saree as uniform.
The latest clarification by the Education Department follows a complaint filed by Divya K Thomas, a BEd student from Kelakam here.
In a complaint posted at the Sutharya Keralam, Chief Minister’s public grievances disposal office, she pointed out that many aided, un-aided schools, teachers’ training institutions and BEd centres were still demanding women teachers and trainees to wear saree. Some schools were also trying to introduce uniform for teachers to make saree compulsory, the complaint said. The government had issued a fresh circular on May 9 this year, on a complaint filed by Kavya Manohar, a professional college faculty, on the non-implementation of the department order in 2008.