/shethepeople/media/agency_attachments/2024/11/11/2024-11-11t082606806z-shethepeople-black-logo-2000-x-2000-px-1.png){kind=logo}
Follow Us/shethepeople/media/post_banners/sd3lXW2lCJoWodbFpYHI.jpg)
The Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (KSCPCR) has mandated that all school personnel, regardless of gender, should be addressed as "teachers." Additionally, the order instructs against using the pronouns "Sir" and "Madam."
According to a recent order from the KSCPCR, using the pronoun "teacher" instead of honorifics like "sir" or "madam" to address them is more gender-neutral.
Kerala Child Rights Panel On Teacher
On Wednesday, a bench made up of panel chair KV Manoj Kumar and member C Vijayakumar ordered the General Education Department to issue instructions directing the use of the term "teacher" in all state-run schools.
The instruction was given after taking into account a petition filed by a person who wanted to stop teachers from being addressed as "sir" and "madam" based on their gender. Additionally, the complainant demanded that the teachers be addressed in a non-gender-specific manner.
Suggested Reading: Why Do Girls Lag Behind In Mathematics, You Ask? Here’s The Real Reason
In its court decision, the panel ruled that action should be taken to issue a directive in all educational institutions to use the term "teacher" to refer to them in a respectful and gender-neutrally. It was noted that the terms "sir" or "madam" do not correspond to the idea of a teacher.
The panel went on to say that using the word "teacher" would also bring teachers and students closer together and gave the director of the general education department instructions to submit the "action taken" report in this regard within two months.
Recently, in November 2022, India's legislative history witnessed a momentous first, the use of the pronouns "she" and "her" to refer to all genders. The pronouns in the draught Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2022.
The draught bill that recognises both the need to process personal data for legal purposes and an individual's right to data protection was discussed in a tweet by Communications Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.