Teachers to hold peers accountable after dress code debate

Tasleem Gierdien

Tasleem Gierdien

10 November 2025 | 9:59

"One of the things bugging teachers was how unpresentable some people are appearing at school,” says Basil Manuel of the National Professional Teachers Organisation of SA.

Teachers to hold peers accountable after dress code debate

English teacher / Pexels: Tima Miroshnichenko 5427868

A debate arose at the annual Triennial Congress in Gauteng over whether teachers should wear uniforms or dress in professional attire at school.

"These are the same people who have to enforce a uniform for children; that is what sparked the debate," says Manuel.

At the Triennial Congress, several questions were raised for discussion: What does a professional dress code truly look like? Whose idea of 'professionalism' should teachers follow? How does attire contribute to professionalism?

Who is responsible for enforcing teachers’ dress codes?

"We had a lot of younger teachers who had never been to Congress before. They came with a particular mindset which I will say is different to some of the others, but what it did do is give us insight into a world that is changing rapidly as ages shift, so do decisions. They were part of the people who were complaining about codes and dress codes that don't make sense. It was a lively debate."

The conference highlighted ironies such as schoolboys being requiredto wear ties and penalised if they don’t, while teachers are not held to the same standard.

"We've got to practice what we preach. If we want our children to behave in a certain fashion, we can't behave in the opposite," confirms Manuel.

The Congress rejected the idea of a national teaching uniform and concluded that teachers should take collective responsibility for maintaining professional dress standards and should challenge colleagues who appear unprofessional.

"There was a consensus that teachers should dress up and avoid appearing as though they’ve just come off the beach.

"What Congress eventually came to was that we, the teachers, need to be the ones saying to one another, 'Come, guys, we need to dress up, this is not appropriate'. If we don't push that envelope, who will?"

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