Maharashtra Govt Issues Dress Code For Teachers To Avoid “Bad Impact” On Students. Moral Policing Them Too?

Stop blaming clothes for everything!

I honestly don’t remember a single teacher in my school who was not dressed in the best of her attire. We looked up to them for inheriting such a strong personality when we grew up. However, it’s so sad and frustrating to know that now the teachers have also become victims of moral policing. For the first time, the Maharashtra Government has issued a dress code for female and male teachers in its new circular. As per the new rule, teachers are prohibited from wearing jeans or t-shirts to avoid bad influence on students. What a joke! This rule is not just a disrespect to this profession but also proves how the government is promoting a narrow mindset. Why do the rule makers think that women’s clothing is the sole factor for creating all the wrong impacts on children?

Maharashtra Government’s New Dress Code

In its new rule, the Maharashtra Government has declared a new dress code for all the public and private school teachers in the state. The only fresh addition in this new circular is that it’s not just for the female teachers but the male teachers too have to abide by it. As per the new dress code, jeans and t-shirts are strictly prohibited for the teachers. Female teachers are advised to wear sarees or salwar suits only while the male teachers have to wear trousers and a shirt (tucked in). Not just it, there are also limitations on the colours which should mostly be light, and it should not have heavy prints. In its justification, the Government stated that the dress code is implemented to avoid any kind of distractions for the students or adverse impact on them. Well, we believe that there are other important issues in the education sector that the government needs to attend to.

What’s the logic behind having a dress code for teachers ? Shouldn’t the govt be more concerned about improving the quality of education in public schools and ensuring that its more easily accessible to children from weaker sections of the society? #Maharashtra #Mumbai #Pune pic.twitter.com/mX6vnVxoPr

— Dr Sumedh Anathpindika (@AnathpindikaS) March 16, 2024

Why does govt want to make a dress code for teachers in private schools in Maharashtra??

Why not concentrate on teaching rather than dressing

— mukulagarwal (Modi ka parivaar) (@MukulAgarwal66) March 16, 2024

The Maharashtra Government’s move has sparked a strong reaction from the teachers and they feel offended by it, as per the report by Indian Express. 

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It’s honestly hard to digest the reason behind this unnecessary limitation on teachers by the Maharashtra Government. Who would have thought that teachers who are already so well-dressed at school and are the most important people in shaping the present and future of a child would be subjected to this problematic rule? Also, what is this moral policing on female dressing all the time? To avoid anything bad, the rule makers or the society bans a particular kind of dress for women. Also, why weren’t the female teachers allowed to wear trousers too and why just ethnics? It’s like promoting the same idealogy that a woman is raped because she was wearing a certain kind of dress. When will we as a society stop implementing or promoting such a regressive culture, it’s 2024, can we realise it already and stop blaming clothes for anything wrong that happens around us?

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