Teachers’ dress codes should respect cultural values: CTSU
View(s):The Ceylon Teachers’ Services Union has urged the government to address the pressing issue of dress codes in schools, particularly the dress codes for Muslim teachers.
CTSU Secretary, Mahinda Jayasinghe, in a letter to the government, accused it of staying silent and not addressing dress code and ethnicity-based disagreements, which have continued to grow with incidents reported from schools across the country.
“The Education Ministry stated, just three days after the attacks on April 21, that the sole responsibility of the matter of security of schools was to be taken by the principal, teachers, parents and past pupils of each school in the country. But it has been over a month and they still have not bothered to provide a single solution to this issue,” Mr Jayasinghe said.
He explained that there had been incidents in schools in Homagama and Kandy where parents had protested the dress of Muslim teachers.
Mr Jayasinghe, in his letter, stated that along with administrative complications arising through this, the teachers, parents and the entire community were adversely affected following these incidents.
He requested that a code of attire, which respected every ethnicity’s cultural values, be drafted and issued for all teachers in the country.