No entry for male teachers in these schools

“Ridiculous,” is how most private and government-school principals reacted to the recent order of the Municipal Commission of Delhi (MCD) according to which male teachers can no longer teach female students in primary schools of MCD.

Initially the director of education at the MCD, Indira Yadav, termed the move as precautionary and said this was to prevent cases of molestation, but later, the MCD changed its stance. Senior officials said that this was a mere proposal, which was being considered. “This is mainly to suit female teachers as they have problems with evening shifts,” said a senior official.

When DNA spoke to Indira Yadav on Friday she clarified, “Personally I think female students would prefer female teachers to males. Also, almost three quarters of my staff are women, so we try and make it a policy that during the morning shifts when the co-educational and all-girls classes are held there should be women teachers.”

But where does harassment come in the picture? “There have been four cases of sexual harassment in the past four years. I think these could easily have been avoided had there been female teachers. Of course, these days it is also possible for a male teacher to fondle a boy, but what can I do about that?” asks Yadav.

To say that male teachers in MCD schools are livid would be an understatement.

“Basically, the message going out is that all of us (male teachers) are out to molest or harass children. This is a stupid thought where the only casualty is going to be a lot of male teachers losing jobs,” said a MCD teacher on conditions of anonymity.

Shyama Chona, Principal DPS, RK Puram, agrees, “You need to find the cause of the problem and solve it, instead of blindly enforcing something.

If there are teachers who have indulged in acts of harassment then they should be severely penalised, but you can’t punish all male teachers in general for what a small percentage indulge in.”