Sorry, is Sari a must wear for taechers?

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“Why are you not sticking to the dress code?” If you think a student is at the receiving end once again, you are mistaken.

Managements of unaided schools want their teaching staff to adhere to a dress code, requiring women to wear sari.

Not all the teachers are pleased with the “unwritten rule” and want the freedom to choose the dress of their choice.

They cite many reasons – from inconvenience while travelling to discomfort while standing before teens in higher classes to missing their favourite dresses.

“There is no need for a special dress code for teachers…The younger lot feel more comfortable in churidar especially if they have to teach in higher classes.

Those who are confident enough to wear saris, nobody prevents them from doing so,” says Susamma P. Joseph, a senior teacher with St Thomas High School, Peravoor, Kannur.

Most prefer churidar because it covers the whole body besides allowing them to get ready in no time to go to school. “Majority of teachers have to reach school by 7.30 am.

They have not even a second to spare. Sari is definitely not a great idea while running after transport buses,” Zaina Hudson, a teacher with Mount Carmel Anglo Indian Girls HS, Kollam, opines.

So why are the managements insisting on the sari? “When you think of a teacher, you think of a lady in a sari. The attire reflects our cultural background and commands respect from wards.

Though it is not written down, we insist that all of them wear saris,” says a top official of the Bharathiya Vidhya Bhavan, Kochi Kendra.

T.P.M. Ibrahim Khan, chairman of the Al Ameen Public school and president of the Kerala Federation of CBSE/ICSE Schools, too, vehemently supports a dress code for teachers.

“There should be uniformity as some may hail from affluent families while others may be from the lower strata.

They shouldn’t feel any inferiority complex. The dress should be simple though it may vary from school to school or place to place,” he says.

However, he doesn’t think only sari suits the women teachers. “I prefer them wearing overcoats and name badges,” he adds.

“There is no dress code in the school where I’m teaching. But in the previous schools where I worked, they insisted on the sari.

It may be difficult to understand for some but students’ attention does get diverted when teachers wear the sari, especially in the higher classes.

It is a fact,” Meekha Suraj Koshy, English teacher with the Kings International School, Kollam, says. Some teachers argue that they should be allowed to wear different attires that suit a particular season.

“When it rains, I hate wearing saris. I feel that I’m carrying some additional weight if I get wet. Churidars are handy in such situations,” says Sajina S. of Lake Ford School, Kavanadu in Kollam.