PremiumKerala Higher Education Minister R Bindu said one's choice of dressing is an entirely personal matter and no one has the right to criticise or interfere in another's sartorial choices
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The Kerala government has come out in support of women teachers who complained against sarees as a dress code in state's schools and colleges. Kerala Higher Education Minister R Bindu said one's choice of dressing is an entirely personal matter and no one has the right to criticise or interfere in another's sartorial choices.
The minister issued a circular yesterday after complaints came from many teachers that several institutions in the state continue to practice such policing.
The state's education minister wrote, "Teachers have every right to dress as per their comfort in Kerala regardless of the kind of institutes they work at. This practice of imposing sari on our teachers is not conducive to Kerala's progressive attitude'.
The minister, who was a professor at the Kerala Varma College in Thrissur said she used to wear churidars regularly. "While a teacher has several responsibilities, adhering to such outdated and obsolete ideas is not one of them. One's choice of dressing is an entirely personal matter. No one has the right to criticise or interfere in another's sartorial choices," she said.
The minister said she spoke to a young lecturer a few days ago who had shared her experience at an educational institute at Kodungallur with her. Though the young lecturer has the necessary qualifications, the staff put forward a condition that she had to wear a sari every day if she wanted to work there. Consequently, Bindu decided to issue a new circular after similar reports on women teachers' dress code surfaced on media.
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