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Teachers’ saree storm forces Govt. to revoke dress circular
View(s):The Government has decided to revoke the circular allowing public officers to report to work wearing “appropriate and modest attire”, following the controversy over some teachers coming to school in casual attire.
Speaking during yesterday’s budget debate, Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena said a decision had been taken to revoke the Public Administration Ministry circular issued in this regard.
He said the circular, issued during the COVID-19 pandemic, had been misused by certain groups to claim that teachers could wear whatever they wanted to school.
The proposal to revoke the circular is to be put to the next Cabinet meeting.
The revoking of the circular would mean that the option of wearing ‘appropriate and modest attire’ would be removed. It would effectively mean female public servants would have to revert to wearing saree or the Osariya.
Ceylon Teachers Union (CTU) General Secretary Joseph Stalin had earlier cited the circular when he requested the government to allow female teachers to report to work wearing appropriate attire other than sarees as saree prices had gone up in recent months due to the economic crisis. Some teachers went even further by wearing casual attire to school last Monday as part of a protest demanding that they be allowed to report to work in attire other than a saree.
Following the controversy, the Public Administration Ministry claimed that the circular did not apply to teachers. Nevertheless, the ambiguity surrounding the wording of the circular meant that it could well be interpreted to mean that it also covered teachers, Education Minister Susil Premajayantha told the Sunday Times yesterday. “This has created an unnecessary issue with various groups interpreting this circular wrongly,” he said.
Since the pandemic has now been controlled, if the circular is to remain, it should have a clear interpretation of which ministries and institutions it applies to, the minister said. “Otherwise the Public Administration Ministry must take a decision to ensure uniformity. We expect the Ministry to take a speedy decision on this matter,” Mr Premajayantha said.
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