Gender-neutrality: No ‘sir’ or ‘madam’, say only ‘teacher’ in Kerala schools

Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (KSCPCR) directed all the schools of the state to address school teachers, irrespective of their gender, as ‘teacher’ instead of ‘sir’ or ‘madam’. ‘Teacher’ is a more genderneutral term than honorifics like ‘sir’ or ‘madam’ to address them, the Kerala Child Rights panel directed. The KSCPCR order also mentioned avoiding calling out words like “Sir” and “Madam”. A Bench, comprising panel chairperson K V Manoj Kumar and member C Vijayakumar, on Wednesday directed the General Education Department to give instructions to use the term ‘teacher’ in all schools in the State. The Child Rights Commission also opined that calling out “teacher” instead of sir or madam can help in maintaining equality among the children of all schools and will also increase their attachment to the teachers. As per the sources, the directive was given while considering a plea filed by a person seeking to end the discrimination while addressing teachers ‘sir’ and ‘madam’ according to their gender.