Forever beautiful school uniforms

(Baonghean) -School uniforms create a unique beauty, style and nuance for each school. However, nowadays, many people have a distorted understanding of school uniforms, which destroys the pure and delicate beauty of the uniform...

School uniforms are a traditional beauty of every school not only in Vietnam, but in almost every country. It carries meaning and cultural value beyond just external beauty. School uniforms affirm: All students are equal, regardless of whether they are born into a rich or poor family, their ethnicity or religion, but at school they are all STUDENTS.

Beauty or ugliness in school is only distinguished by the amount of knowledge and behavior. This meaning helps students avoid being self-conscious with friends, to integrate and improve. School uniforms are also the beauty of unity and solidarity, team spirit, discipline, and like-mindedness... The beauty of students wearing uniforms from an educational and sociological perspective is also: creating a good competitive learning atmosphere, helping students' families reduce financial expenses, and preparing them to enter life with the virtue of discipline. School uniforms are also very necessary for a standard pedagogical environment. The beauty and uniformity of the uniform also help the school build an exemplary traditional image for students to remember and be proud of.

Students of Chau Hanh commune (Quy Chau) go to school. Photo: TP - TH

There are many different opinions about the history of school uniforms in Vietnam. Some people believe that school uniforms were prescribed since the establishment of Quoc Tu Giam - the first university in our country in 1076; other opinions are associated with the formation of the ao dai, which appeared under the reign of Lord Nguyen Phuc Khoat (1738 - 1765). However, the most convincing hypothesis is still: School uniforms were born when schools with the national language appeared in our country. Gia Long School (the second oldest school in Saigon, built in 1913) chose purple ao dai as the uniform for female students. In the capital city of Hue, in 1917 Dong Khanh School was established and chose purple as the uniform for female students, so the school was called "Purple Ao Dai School". And since then, the image of school uniforms has entered poetry...

In Nghe An, school uniforms appeared later, it was not until 1995-1996 that only a few schools began to implement uniform regulations for students. Le Loi Primary School (Vinh City) is one of them. This school has the following regulations: Every week, students wear uniforms on Mondays and Fridays. In grade 1, the school and the Parents' Association agree on the design, choose the fabric and order it. Each student has 1 summer set and 1 winter set for all 5 school years. If any parents or students need to have additional clothes made, or replace old, torn, or tight clothes, they can order them based on the school's general design.

Quang Trung Secondary School (Vinh City) - a school that has maintained uniform discipline for more than ten years, Mr. Nguyen Duc Vuong, Principal of the school proudly said: “Uniforms create a unique identity for each school. Each student, when wearing the uniform, will feel proud of the school they are studying at; feel responsible for “beautifying” the uniform with good actions, good gestures, and good deeds. Maintaining uniforms is maintaining school discipline…” In grade 6, each student sews a summer set, a winter coat according to the style and design that has been unified throughout the school and has its own logo. After that, depending on the needs, students and parents order to wear for the following school years…

Sharing about wearing uniforms to school, Vu Thi Anh Ngoc, an 8th grade student at Quang Trung Secondary School, said: “When wearing the school uniform, I am clearly aware that all my actions and deeds have a good/bad influence on the school. In the past, many students often ate snacks in front of the school gate. Thanks to the uniform, the red flag team discovered that they were students of our school and promptly reminded and deterred them, thereby reducing the problem. Or when participating in traffic, wearing the school uniform will limit the phenomenon of lining up horizontally, causing disorder…”.

At Nguyen Duc Mau High School (Quynh Luu), the regulation that students wear uniforms has been implemented for many years. The school requires students to wear uniforms every day of the week and has become a student rule. The school has a red flag team at the school gate, and if any student is not wearing uniform, they will not be allowed to enter the school.

Explaining this, the school's Board of Directors said: The school is located in a coastal and educational area, where security and order have many complicated issues. Maintaining students wearing uniforms helps the school easily manage students, avoiding bad elements outside the school from mixing in and causing trouble and disruption. Uniforms create equality and friendliness among students; creating a more disciplined pedagogical environment. Each student when entering grade 10 pays about 300,000 VND to have their uniform made, and when entering grade 11, they have an additional shirt made. All stages from choosing the design, style, fabric, ordering, and price are undertaken by the parents' association...

Uniform of students at Nghi Phu 1 Primary School, Vinh City.

In the mountainous district of Quy Chau, currently, about 80% of schools in the area have student uniforms. However, many schools only wear uniforms 2 days a week, because due to difficult economic conditions, each student can only contribute to making 1 uniform. Although not mandatory, with the meaning of wearing uniforms, the Department encourages schools to popularize the wearing of uniforms when going to school. Schools also require students to wear traditional costumes of their ethnic group on Monday mornings to preserve their own cultural identity.

Obviously, each school and each locality has different ways of implementing uniforms for students. Mr. Nguyen Trong Hoan, Deputy Chief of Office of the Department of Education and Training said: “The wearing of uniforms by students is based on Circular 26 of the Ministry of Education and Training, on that basis, the Department has an official dispatch guiding the education departments to implement. Currently, there is no document requiring mandatory uniform wearing, however, it should be encouraged and expanded because it creates the cultural identity and tradition of each school; creates pedagogical discipline and a friendly, disciplined educational environment”...

However, due to the lack of awareness of the meaning of the uniform, the implementation of uniforms in schools also creates problems, causing many parents to be distracted and worried. Specifically, some schools change the design and color once a year; each year a new style, even each class has its own symbol; buying and sewing uniforms with poor materials, inappropriate prices... has created a financial burden, caused waste, lost the meaning of the beauty of the uniform, and most dangerously, raised doubts about the educational environment.

The evidence is that in 2004, some primary schools in Vinh City, Ky Son District and Cua Lo Town had problems with poor quality clothing and prices that were not in line with market prices. After public opinion and the press spoke out, in January 2005, the Nghe An Department of Education and Training issued two official dispatches requesting the education departments of districts and cities to inspect and rectify...

Entering the 2013-2014 school year, learning about the story of school uniforms, the problems related to school uniforms still exist. Mr. Tran Van Hai, Hung Phuc ward, Vinh city, was upset: “My child is entering first grade this year. I saw the school reported that the family had to pay 400,000 VND to buy a set of textbooks, and 300,000 VND to buy a uniform. I looked outside and saw that the price of the set of textbooks was only 190,000 VND, and the uniform of the same type and material was 150,000 VND. I wonder if the school is selling textbooks and school uniforms or not?!”…

Ms. Ho Thi Nhung, a fish seller at Quan Bau market, complained: “My child has not developed much this year compared to last year, and the old uniform is still wearable. But I heard that the school is preparing to change to a new uniform. What about books, notebooks… Where is the money to take care of everything…?”. Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong, Ha Huy Tap ward, wondered: “I completely agree with the regulation on wearing uniforms to school. But the school needs to unify a stable design, material suitable for students (needs to absorb sweat), the design also needs to follow the trend of simplicity, beauty, and neatness…”.

How can we make the uniforms be welcomed by students with joy, affection and make them feel proud and honored when wearing them? Some students did not hesitate to confess: “The uniforms are not beautiful, most of them are loose and baggy, the fabric will wrinkle after a few days of wearing, so we wear them to deal with the red flag team, the school rules so we have to wear them...”

In countries like Japan and Korea, schools always pay attention to choosing uniforms. They hire reputable designers to create high-quality, aesthetically pleasing and fashionable uniforms for school-age students. Students always love and are attached to their uniforms... It is clear that there is a situation where students are "uncomfortable" with their uniforms. The school's requirement that students wear uniforms is also to increase intimacy among students and increase friendliness in the educational environment. However, if the uniforms are not suitable for the aesthetics, gender, age of students and the cultural identity of the nation, regional characteristics, not suitable for weather conditions, convenient for studying, living at school and participating in other activities... it is counterproductive.

The shortcomings surrounding school uniforms will not only destroy the beautiful image and meaning of uniforms but also affect the educational environment to some extent... There will still be many things to discuss surrounding school uniforms. However, I think that ending the above shortcomings is not difficult: First of all, we need to be consistent in our perception that "the core issue for students is to go to school to study and acquire knowledge".

Second, it is necessary to strictly implement Circular 26 of the Ministry of Education and Training regulating the wearing of uniforms in schools. The Department of Education and Training as well as education departments need to regularly check this. Schools need to propagate and disseminate to parents and students to fully understand the meaning of uniforms. Places with conditions can wear them many days/week, places with difficulties can wear them less. Before deciding on the design, color, and material of uniforms, schools should consult with designers, parents, and students. Uniforms must ensure the principles of popularity, mass, seriousness, consistency, suitability to the psychology, interests, and aesthetics of students' age, safety, and convenience in learning and playing activities...

There is nothing more beautiful than seeing students happily going to school in their pristine uniforms every morning. Over the years, the school uniform will forever be an unforgettable memory of student life…

Thanh Phuc - Thanh Chung