No casual attitude for teachers

Having a strict dress code for students is very common but many colleges in the City insist on a dress code even for their teachers. The simple reason being that they should look distinguished.

The teachers in the City, however, welcome this move. Some even say that a dress code is necessary, else, the students tend to take them lightly.

Says Vidya, a lecturer in a PUC College, “Most of the teachers are in the age group of 25 and above, so this dress code makes it easy for one to distinguish between teacher and students.”

The code is not something new. Colleges like Bishop Cotton Women’s Christian College, Seshadripuram College and Christ College have always maintained a formal dress code for all of its teachers for a long time now.

In Surana College, the dress code for the lecturers, was recently introduced.  While its largely saris and salwars, for women, it’s formals for the men. They have also instructed the teachers to avoid wearing sleeveless, short kurtas and leggings.

Jamuna Singh, a teacher from the college, says that many of the kids try to
take things lightly if the teacher is dressed in a casual attire. “Many times, students tend to take pictures of the teachers and put it up on social networking sites and write remarks.

I feel by dressing in formal garments, one can gain respect from the students and the students behave well in the classroom. We are also role models for the students. If we come dressed casually, they too feel it is ok to dress like us,” she adds.

And students too agree, many say that they judge their teachers by what they wear. “If my teacher comes into the class in skinny jeans and T-shirt, I will be shocked. I guess we all have that stereotypical image of how our teacher must be dressed. And somewhere I feel a formal dress code is not such a bad idea for teachers to follow,” says Ankit, a student.  

Those who are young and have taken up the profession of teaching feel that students take you more seriously when the teacher is dressed in a formal attire. “I feel dressing appropriately to work is necessary. Especially for a teacher because you can make your presence felt inside the classroom. If not, the students will not take you seriously. The formal clothes also give professional touch to the work,” says Akshay, a lecturer at St Josephs of Arts and Science.