Choosing school uniforms is also important for “value for money”丨Media Notes
2024-08-18
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According to Guangming.com, a parent recently left a message on the "Leaders' Message Board" of People's Daily Online, saying that when buying school uniforms in Shenzhen, he learned that he also needed to buy formal dresses, but "buying an ordinary formal dress costs hundreds of yuan, and it can only be worn a few times in a semester. The children are growing up, and they have to buy new ones every two or three years, which is a considerable financial burden." The parent suggested that Shenzhen's primary and secondary schools should cancel formal dresses and students can just wear sportswear. After this incident attracted widespread attention, many parents also said that purchasing formal dresses for primary and secondary school students is a pure burden and should indeed be cancelled.
In a commentary article titled "Can the formal school uniforms for primary and secondary schools be abolished? It might be helpful to reduce the burden of school uniforms", the Chao News client pointed out that "formal uniforms are rarely used in daily learning and life, and are mostly limited to a few formal occasions such as opening ceremonies and flag-raising ceremonies. This 'occasional use' feature exacerbates the impression that they are not cost-effective."
"Occasionally used" is indeed the first impression many people have of formal dresses for primary and secondary school students. Primary and secondary school students are not business people and do not have many opportunities to wear formal dresses to participate in activities. Moreover, formal dresses are relatively expensive. If they are only worn occasionally, it will indeed make people feel that it is "not worth it." As for the suggestion of "daily wear formal dresses" put forward by some people, it is not realistic and feasible. As the parents who reflected the problem said, "With one physical education class per day in primary and secondary schools in Shenzhen, it is very inconvenient for children to exercise in formal dresses." In reality, it is still most appropriate to wear sportswear, which is relatively cheap, convenient to wear, and will not create a burden for children and parents.
Of course, as a formal dress, student dresses naturally have their use value. The above commentary also proposed a compromise: "One possible solution is to make appropriate adjustments to the design and use of dresses while ensuring the overall uniformity and quality of school uniforms. For example, you can consider designing simpler and more practical dress styles that not only meet the dress requirements for formal occasions, but are also easy for students to put on and take care of in daily life. At the same time, schools can also optimize activity arrangements and reduce unnecessary occasions for wearing dresses, thereby reducing students' wearing costs and avoiding excessive waste."
In response to this, the Shenzhen Municipal Education Bureau has a latest response: "We will further optimize the "Shenzhen Primary and Secondary School Student Uniform Dress Management Measures" based on the opinions of the general public and parents. On the basis of uniform dress, it should not only show the good style of students, but also facilitate students to participate in sports and promote the healthy development of students' physical and mental health."
The Shenzhen Municipal Primary and Secondary School Student Uniform Dress Management Measures mentioned in the document were issued as early as 2003, and proposed that the principles of student dress should be "beautiful and practical clothing, standardized and transparent management, market-oriented sales, and timely and thoughtful services". The measures also mentioned that "the management of uniform dress for primary and secondary school students is subject to supervision by parents, relevant government administrative departments and society". There is nothing wrong with these principled regulations, but this document is more than 20 years old, and the relevant details do need to be optimized according to actual conditions and parents' opinions, so that the rules can keep pace with the times.
There can be more flexible solutions to the school uniform issue, giving parents and students more choices. Southern Metropolis Daily published a commentary article titled "It is better to provide different options for students to wear formal clothes or not." The article specifically pointed out: "In fact, some schools in Shenzhen have made adjustments and no longer require students to buy and wear formal clothes. This change is worth reference. Since students wear less, it is not a bad idea to use sportswear instead. The current problem is that some schools have not followed up or have not fully listened to the voices of parents, so parents have to express their opinions through various channels."
In fact, the education department has not failed to notice this problem. In June this year, the Guangdong Provincial Department of Education issued the "Guiding Opinions on Strengthening the Management of School Uniforms for Primary and Secondary School Students (Draft for Comments)", which clearly requires: "The selection and purchase of school uniforms should be based on the principle of 'practical, durable and economical'. The school and the parent committee shall discuss and reasonably determine the types and styles of school uniforms. Parents shall determine the number of school uniforms according to their personal needs. The wishes of students and parents shall be truly reflected, and high-end and luxury phenomena shall be resolutely stopped."
In recent years, the issue of student clothing has often sparked heated debate in the public opinion field, and some reports have appeared in newspapers from time to time. Generally speaking, people are not opposed to the uniform clothing for primary and secondary school students, but they cannot accept two situations: first, the clothing is not cost-effective; second, they are worried that the purchase process of student clothing is not reasonable and transparent.
Searching the information, we can find that Tianyan News has previously revealed that a parent of a student in Jilin Province posted a short video saying that his daughter's school uniform was "bright on the outside, but unsightly on the inside" and that "she would not be allowed to enter the school if she did not wear the school uniform". Coincidentally, a parent of a middle school in Jiangsu Province found that the warmth layer of the school uniform was only a simple plastic film after unpacking his child's winter school uniform. In this regard, commentator Ding Shenyi once published an article entitled "The Implementation of Systems is Required to Prevent "Problematic School Uniforms"", pointing out the key to the problem: the emergence of "problematic school uniforms" is due to the fact that the implementation of the system is not strong enough, the operation of power is not transparent enough, and the decision-making process is not open and democratic enough. Therefore, only by improving and implementing various systems, increasing their transparency, and forming an effective supervision and service system can we ensure that students wear safe school uniforms that are warm in winter and cool in summer.
In this sense, relevant departments should not only strengthen supervision, but also listen more to the voices of students and parents, and try to provide students with the most appropriate clothing options. Only in this way can school uniforms no longer become a "problem".
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Source: China Youth Daily Client
