The Sindh government’s school education department has issued a code of ethics to advise the government school teachers about their professional conduct during their duty hours.
The code of ethics has advised the government schoolteachers to observe such a dress code which should reflect the values of their profession and culture. The education department has advised the female teachers not to wear heavy make-up and to avoid using high-heel shoes during their stay at the school.
The women teachers have also been advised to avoid displaying excessive jewellery during their duty hours. The code of conduct has advised female teachers to prefer traditional dress for their appearance at the workplace.
The guidelines have also directed the male teachers to avoid wearing jeans and a t-shirt on the school premises. The education department has asked the teachers to avoid using cigarettes and all forms of smokeless and chewable tobacco during duty timings.
The teachers have also been advised to interact with their colleagues, school administration, and non-teaching staff respectfully, reflecting good moral ethics and upright professional conduct. The teachers have also been directed to remain within the limits of their professional conduct while dealing with their students and avoid personal likes and dislikes in academic affairs.
They have been advised not to assign their personal work to their students and also to avoid corporal punishment at the school. A spokesman for the education department later clarified that the department hadn’t banned any dress for the teachers
He said the code of conduct shouldn’t be perceived as an order by the government, as it is merely guidelines for the teachers.
The code of conduct in question was prepared after holding consultation sessions with all the relevant stakeholders, including teachers’ representative associations, lawyers, and civil society. The spokesman said the word ban wasn’t used anywhere in the code of conduct. The guidelines do contain certain dress codes and precautions for the teachers, keeping in view their professional conduct. The guidelines have been issued to motivate the teachers to impart quality education to their students with careful use of resources available at the schools and to evolve a conducive academic environment at the educational institutions.
The spokesman said the education department had merely advised the woman teachers about their dress code and professional conduct, as there was no ban imposed in this regard. Reports aired by certain TV channels about the ban on the use of certain dresses and make-up by woman teachers were baseless.
Education Minister Syed Sardar Ali Shah said the consultation process in this regard would continue while he welcomed the reservations and objections to the new code of conduct. The next meeting of the board of the Sindh Teachers Education Development Authority (STEDA) will also review afresh the conduct of conduct, said the education minister, who is also STEDA chairman.
Published in News Daily on 27-March-2025.