Thiruvananthapuram, Schools have no right to impose any dress code for female teachers, Kerala General Education Minister V Sivankutty said on Saturday. The Minister's comment came in the wake of the introduction of 'unisex' uniform for students of the Government School at Valayanchira in Ernakulam district in the state. Supporting the introduction unisex uniform in all the government schools as part of ensuring gender equality, the Minister, who called for a discussion on whether to continue the system of separate schools for girls and boys, said the schools coming under Government have no right to impose any dress code for female teachers. Earlier, Higher Education Minister Dr R Bindu said "Teachers have every right to dress as per their comfort in Kerala, regardless of the kind of institutes they work in." "This practice of imposing Sari as a dress on our teachers is not conducive to Kerala's progressive attitude," she said. "I am also a teacher. When I was teaching at Kerala Varma, I used to wear churidars regularly," she added. Recalling an incident, Minister Bindu tweeted earlier that "Happened to talk to a young lecturer a few days ago. She was telling me about an experience she had at an educational institute in Kodungallur about a month ago. Though she has the necessary qualifications, the staff apparently put forward a condition that she had to wear a Sari." "While a teacher has several responsibilities, adhering to such outdated and obsolete ideas is not one of them.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," the Minister said. "Everyday if she wanted to work there. After news reports on this, more such incidents have been brought to attention. The govt has already made clear its stance in this regard multiple times," she said. She said "Though the govt had already issued a circular dated 09-05-2014 clarifying this, it has become clear that several institutions in the state continue to practice such policing. Hence, the Higher Edu Department is issuing another circular to this effect on November 12, 2021."
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