Jeans ban on schoolteachers

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 10

Haryana schoolteachers have been banned from wearing jeans. The Director of Elementary Education today wrote to all District Elementary Education Officers (DEEOs) in the state to ensure that the ban was implemented.

“It has been noticed that teachers in primary and middle schools come in jeans. Even when they visit the Directorate of Elementary Education, Panchkula, they are found wearing jeans, which is not appropriate,” the Director wrote. An elementary education officer said the ban would come into force after the summer break.

PK Das, Additional Chief Secretary, School Education Department, said the teachers should dress up “properly” as they were role models for their students. “A teacher must be a picture of sobriety and propriety when he/she comes to school.

“Besides banning jeans, we will ensure they do not come in flashy clothes, such as a red shirt or a loud printed one. Also, all the shirt buttons should be fastened,” he said. The orders would be applicable for teachers in secondary schools too, Das added.

The teaching community seems divided on the issue. While one teacher questioned the orders, terming these as “regressive,” another teacher saw nothing wrong in the department asking the teachers to dress “appropriately,” pointing out the lawyers too had a dress code. “What is wrong if the teachers also have one,” he asked.

Vazir Singh, president, Haryana Schoolteachers Association, alleged the government was issuing such diktats to divert people’s attention from its inability to improve the education system.

Vinod Thakran, president, Elementary Education Teachers Association, condemned the “Tughlaqi” orders, arguing a teacher’s dress had no bearing on his/her performance. “Such decisions are nothing but a diversionary tactic as the state government has failed to fill the large number of vacancies in schools and retrenched staff in the Education Department”.