thanking Harneet for sending this in/ Times of India may 17 2005

'Aprons must for good teaching' Principal: Exposure By Lady Teachers Distracts Students
By Basant Kumar Mohanty/TNN
Bhubaneswar: Remember young Rishi Kapoor in Mera Naam Joker peeping at his beautiful teacher, Simi Garewal, emerging from behind the bushes after taking a bath? The scene may be part of Bollywood folklore, but it does the cause of education no good. So believes the principal of a city-based school, who feels such scenes get enacted even in classrooms.

"The unconscious exposure of body of a lady teacher during teaching could be an object of amusement for male students inside a classroom," observes Dr K C Satapathy, principal of DAV Public School at Chandrasekharpur here. And disturbed over its effect, the school has decided to make all teachers, irrespective of gender, wear an apron while teaching from the coming academic session.

The decision, incidentally, came in the wake of a two-year study undertaken by the school, which concluded that boys in higher classes were "losing concentration" inside the classroom when the body of women teachers was getting even slightly exposed during teaching. The study, conducted by some counsellors and teachers of the school, stumbled upon this conclusion after intimate interaction with students, Satapathy said.

"Adolescent boys are most inquisitive about sex, especially after beingexposed to sexually explicit scenes in the mass media. And they tend to lose attention when lady teachers unconsciously expose body parts during teaching," said the principal. "By wearing an apron, the quality of teaching could improve," he pointed out.

Another benefit of using aprons, according to the school authorities, is that teachers can screen themselves from chalk dust. "The dress of teachers look grey with chalk dust all over. Now the apron will act as a shield," Satapathy remarked.

"The common dress system will also help curb competition among women teachers for wearing costly sarees and garments," he argued. There are about 130 teachers, including 65 women teachers in the school.