Government teachers in Madhya Pradesh will have to follow a uniform dress code - maroon jacket for women and navy blue for men - from the next academic session, according to an order of the education department.
The order said how the teachers dress is important as the directive is to bring uniformity and check their personality differences.
In the order issued last week, the state school education department has issued directives to the commissioner of the Directorate of Public Instructions and the director of the Rajya Shiksha Kendra to implement the dress code for teachers across the state.
In addition to the dress code, the teachers will have to put a name tag on their jacket with 'Rashtra Nirmata' (maker of the nation) written on it, said the order signed by school education department's deputy secretary K K Dwivedi.
Citing the Madhya Pradesh Panchayat Adhyapak Sambarg (Service Conduct Conditions) Rules 2008, the order said it is expected from women teachers to wear a maroon jacket, and men a navy blue jacket.
The order stated that teachers play an important role in shaping the future of the country, and how they dress is significant.
"For this, the dress plays an important role.The dress not only brings uniformity but also ends personality differences," it said.
MP's Minister of State for School Education Deepak Joshi said the decision was taken by his senior cabinet colleague Kunwar Vijay Shah, the school education minister, last year.
"Shah had issued directives in this regard last year. Now, the school education department has started its implementation. From the next session, the women teachers will have to wear a maroon jacket and the men a navy blue jacket," he said.
"The teachers would have to wear the jackets on their clothes so that their identity and uniformity could be ensured. The aim of this move is to give the teachers an identity of being the 'Rashtra Nirmata'," Joshi said.
