Assam govt dress code for teachers: No jeans, leggings, T-shirts

Assam govt. asks higher edu. teachers to avoid casual wear like T-shirts, jeans & leggings. Male teachers to wear formal shirt/trousers, female teachers to wear “decent” salwar suit/saree/mekhela-chador. Dress code to reflect sense of decorum, decency, professionalism & seriousness. Mixed reactions.

GUWAHATI Teachers of Assam’s higher educational institutes have been asked to avoid casual wear such as T-shirts, jeans, and leggings while discharging their duties.

A dress code issued by the State government said such attires “sometimes do not seem to acceptable” to the people.

“…some teachers of higher educational institutes are found in the habit of wearing the dress of their choice which sometimes does not appear to be acceptable by the public at large,” a notification issued by the State’s Higher Education Department on August 14 said.

The government asked male teachers to attend duties wearing appropriate formal shirt and trousers, or dhoti-pyjama. Similarly, female teachers have been advised to attend duties in “decent” salwar suit/saree/mekhela-chador, and other traditional attires.

The notification said both male and female teachers should be dressed up in clean, modest, and decent clothes in sober colours, which should not look flashy. They were asked to avoid casual and party apparel.

The government said since a teacher is expected to be an example of all sorts of decency, especially while discharging duties, it becomes necessary to follow a dress code that should reflect a sense of decorum, decency, professionalism, and seriousness of purpose at the workplace.

The dress code has evoked mixed reactions. While the avowedly traditionalists have welcomed it, others said the government should first define decency or indecency and ensure the latter category of dresses are not sold too.