Edited By: Pathikrit Sen Gupta
Last Updated: January 13, 2023, 00:25 IST
Thiruvananthapuram, India
‘Teacher’ is a more gender-neutral term than honorifics like ‘sir’ or ‘madam’, feels the panel. Representational pic/PTI
The commission has asked the general education director to give this instruction to all schools in the state, and many feel use of such gender-neutral terminology is a welcome step
Schoolteachers, irrespective of their gender, should be addressed as “teacher” instead of “sir” or “madam’, the Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (KSCPCR) has directed.
The panel has asked the general education director to give this instruction to all schools in the state.
Many feel this is a welcome change.
Queer academician Prijith PK said, “This is a positive step. Gender-neutral terminology should be used. Now in our daily usage ‘sir’ is seen as masculine and ‘teacher’ is seen as feminine. How will teachers accept this is something we have to see. I hope that the government will accept this and bring this out as a policy.”
Advocate J Sandhya, former member of the Kerala child rights commission, said it’s a welcome step from a gender point of view.
“In textbooks, we say that there shouldn’t be any gender discrimination, and at the practical level students address teachers based on their gender. Our conditioning is such that when we hear ‘nurse’, we immediately think of a female and when we hear ‘pilot’, we immediately think it’s male. This mindset has to change and any move in that direction is a welcome step,” said Sandhya.
News18 reported last year that Senior Basic School in Olassery, Palakkad district of Kerala, had asked its students not to address their teachers as ‘sir’ or ‘madam’ anymore. Instead, the students have been directed to address the teaching faculty as just ‘teacher’ since December 1, 2021. Several schools in the state have also adopted gender-neutral uniforms for their students.
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