Uniforms for school teachers : Need to spell out purpose
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: October 16 2018 -

Uniforms for Government school teachers. This is an idea mooted by Education Minister Th Radheshyam and since it is still at the stage of an idea, perhaps it would be right to discuss the pros and cons of such a move.

It will help if the reason for entertaining the idea of uniforms for school teachers is spelt out clearly.

There are educationists or rather those who have given their all to educating the young students and perhaps it would not be out of line to seek their opinions and suggestions on this front.

Basically uniforms are prescribed for some basic reasons.

One obviously is to ensure uniformity, driving home the point that schools are not exactly places for fashion parades and this is the reason why schools in India prescribe uniforms for the students.

It is another matter that some countries like Germany and Italy are not in favour of prescribing school uniforms.

Another is to ensure that the difference between the rich and poor does not get reflected in the dress young students wear to school and the other is obviously to ensure a certain degree of discipline amongst the young students.

There are uniformed services, particularly in services which call for a high degree of discipline.

It is therefore not surprising that there are uniforms for soldiers across the different Nations.

Apart from soldiers uniforms are prescribed for policemen all over the country.

So too for the fire tenders and nurses to name just a few.

On the next level are professions which do not come under the understanding of uniformed services but nonetheless there are certain dress codes prescribed such as for lawyers, doctors etc.

There are also uniforms or dress codes prescribed for porters at the railway stations in India too.

The important question is whether uniforms for school teachers will go down well with those in the teaching profession or not.

And also important to question what the uniform would be if once the uniform idea is enacted.

Will it be something strictly universal or will it have room to be interpreted as imposing the dress code of one community on the other ?

Or will the dress code or uniform be enforced in such a way that they are different for different communities ?

This question has been raised in the backdrop of the fact that there are different forces pulling the Government in different directions and one cannot leave anything to chance.

But yes uniform should not be understood only through the prism of the uniformed services for a closer look reveals that there are dress codes for perfectly ‘civilian’ professions such as law and medical.

Another interesting point the Education Minister touched on was regulating school vans.

This is a point which has already been highlighted on an earlier occasion, after a photo of a jam packed school van was uploaded by a gentleman in a Whatsapp message.

The same pic was forwarded to the Chief Minister by The Sangai Express drawing his attention on the need to streamline the school vans.

Makes absolutely no sense to let school vans pack in as many students as they can and it is here that the school van associations, the school associations, the Government and the parents need to sit down together and work out a way to ensure that the ride to school and back home is an enjoyable experience for the young tots.