Balanced News: No ‘Madam’ Or ‘Sir’, Only ‘Teacher’: Kerala Child Rights Panel Has This Direction for Schools

‘Teacher’ is a more gender-neutral term than honorifics like ‘sir’ or ‘madam’, feels the panel. Schoolteachers, irrespective of their gender, should be addressed as “teacher” instead of “sir” or “madam’, the Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (KSCPCR) has directed. News18 reported last year that Senior Basic School in Olassery, Palakkad district of Kerala, had asked its students not to address their teachers as ‘sir’ or ‘madam’ anymore.