FEMALE TEACHERS’ DRESS CODE

The latest debate in this never -a -dull -moment country is the dress the female teachers are expected to wear to school. This is something that should be left to the teachers concerned to decide. Whatever they decide on the dress should be something decent and not provocative. Of course, the decision in respect of teachers in government schools should come from the Ministry of Education.

I recollect when we were students, the majority of teachers wore sarees to school. Then there were several teachers who wore frocks. These were the Burgher ladies. And there was no problem at all. I am not indicating this to show support to the teachers being left to decide on their dress.

Now the strange thing about this controversy is that Buddhist monks have got involved in the debate and they are trying to determine the dress that teachers should wear. They do not seem to realize that the teachers must pay to buy sarees. And they need to have several sarees. Whereas the monks get their robes free from the dayakayas. As such they should never get involved in matters of this nature, even though the female nurses may be happy to have one as the president of their union!

This controversy, if settled in favour of the teachers being given the option to decide on the dress, and if they wear various types of dresses, the students too might get a bright idea to wear anything they desire rather than the uniform that they have to wear at present.

This is not the time to worry about dress code for teachers when there are children who do not get a proper education and other children suffer from malnutrition. It seems our rulers always get the priorities wrong, and this always affects the country and the people adversely.

HM NISSANKA WARAKAULLE