Parental pressures have forced a technical school in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, to give up its plan of changing its uniforms, fashioned after South Korean uniforms where it's trouser suits for boys and skirt suits for girls. It would seem that parents object to the new uniforms for being too provocative.

 

 

Korean-style school uniforms

 

On January 15, a parent surnamed Cheng contacted the Jinling Evening News to inform them of the school's plan. Mrs Cheng explained that her daughter, who is enrolled at the school, was really excited about it. But Mrs Cheng didn't share her daughter's enthusiasm. "I am afraid that my daughter will fall in love too early if the school adopts the Korean style school uniform.

 

"My daughter told me that her school was going to purchase new uniforms -- Korean style with suits for boys and skirts for girls. My daughter not only said that wearing a skirt to school was her dream, but also starting discussing with her classmates which boy would look the most handsome in the new suit."

 

Mrs Cheng added, "My daughter loves Koreans TV serials and films. She would be staring at boys all day if the Korean style uniform is adopted. These are adolescents. Uniforms will only make the opposite sex even more attractive to them during this very sensitive time. The sports-styled uniforms are better -- healthy and active."

 

A Mr Lin, an official with the school administration, told the Jinling Evening News, "Our current school uniforms are basically sports attire consisting of a tracksuit. The same design for boys and girls except for color. Students don't like them at all, and some parents think it's a waste of money.

 

"That's why we considered changing the uniforms last November. We polled the students for their opinions and found out that most of them liked the uniforms typically worn by children in South Korea and Japan. In China, too, some middle schools in Shanghai and Guangzhou have changed their uniforms."

 

However, the plan was canceled because too many parents were against it. According to Lin, some parents accused the school of trying to raise more money through the new uniforms, while others raised concerns such as girls catching colds in skirts, and the new uniforms posing a distraction from studies because they're too provocative.

 

In response to concerns that students would "fall in love too early", Lin agreed that the new uniforms are a lot more appealing than the sports attire.

 

 

Needless to say, the students disagree and are disappointed that the plan has been shelved. Many say that a nice well-fitting uniform, unlike the slouchy tracksuit, could boost self-confidence. Moreover, falling in love has nothing to do with school uniforms.

 

Meanwhile, an official from the Nanjing Education Bureau told the Jinling Evening News that there are no rules on uniforms in Nanjing; schools are free to decide what uniforms to have. However, he acknowledged that most elementary and secondary schools have opted for the sports tracksuit.

 

The Jinling Evening News discovered that uniforms worn by elementary and secondary schools in Nanjing are manufactured at old factories that have good relationships or guanxi with the schools. Styles and colors are rarely modern, and apart from Nanjing Foreign Language School, the others have only one standard uniform.

 

Curiously enough, in 1992, a middle school did experiment with a new uniform -- white shirts, jackets and trousers for boys, and shirts, jackets and skirts for girls. But this change lasted only for a year because opponents criticized the new uniforms for being "too old" for middle school students.

 

Another change was tried in 2004 where an elementary school adopted a US-style uniform. The uniform included good quality coats and hats for winter. This, too, was short-lived because the uniforms were deemed too expensive.

 

Despite the furor that the proposed new uniforms caused in this Nanjing technical school, others have gone ahead with their plans. In Jinling High School, for example, the boys are decked out in suits and the girls in colorful skirts.

 

Zhang Xiaochun from the Nanjing Fuxiao Education Hotline said, "Smart uniforms can help increase students' interest in learning. It is necessary for Nanjing to change its school uniforms to make it more international."

 

(China.org.cn by Li Xiaohua, January 18, 2007)