School uniform is a significant part of the ‘back to school’ costs that parents bear at the start of each school year. The current cost-of-living crisis has re-ignited a long running debate about school uniform, as reported in a recent Herald-Sun article.
According to the article:
Uniforms are expensive, can create “social cliques” in schools and reinforce gender stereotypes, experts warn, as debate erupts over whether mandatory uniforms should remain compulsory in Victoria.
Former school principal and now senior lecturer in educational leadership at Australian Catholic University, Dr Paul Kidson, said some people believe uniforms are an outdated part of the education system.
“Many uniforms from independent schools are generated out of a history, culture and time that some think are no longer applicable,” he said.
Parents Victoria CEO Gail McHardy is quoted in the article:
With students sent home for not wearing uniforms correctly, Parents Victoria chief executive Gail McHardy said education should be about what was being taught in the classroom above all else.
“We all need to focus on the importance of learning, not what we are wearing, school uniform or not,” she said.
One Response
When schools are run by incompetent people who only care about their brand and image, with closed minds to suggestions, you push students to go online for such a small change to their uniform. See this recent petition
https://www.change.org/p/short-sleeved-shirts-with-the-pants-should-be-a-uniform-option