School Uniform: Yes or no article by Mazisane Should there be school uniform? This has been discussed, debated and declaimed over the past years in many countries, mainly from two sides–yes and no. Although many countries have no school uniform, South Africa, just as many other British colonies, has (in general) school uniforms for both private and public schools. Now, one might argue that school uniform is influenced by the past–the same past that we are trying to leave where it belongs - but some things from the past have had impact on the nation as it is. . . and one of them is the famous school uniform.
groups thus we have a huge problem of racial issues that are somehow caused by the level of education and past issues like apartheid. Since the end of apartheid the aim was to bridge the differences that caused harm to the nation. Uniform in its own context is special, showing that the wearer is a member of a certain organization, school ,etc. To South Africa it is more than that because it symbolizes the movement of the nation where the country fights against the issues of the past and enables all children from this diverse nation to be able to say "I, too, can go to school".
Uniform = Colonial Past?
The importance of education as a developing country is undoubtable and Gwede Mantashe could've not said it better when he said " education must be
a priority. When you disrupt education, you are not threatening life and death but you are disrupting the future prospects of the country ". Sure, European countries – that were never British colonies - don't wear school uniform. Let us take Denmark for instance. They can literally go to school in flip flops and shorts; basically any clothing of their choice. Although it is a small country ,we cannot compare South Africa Denmark as Denmark is primarily composed of a population of one ethnic group, whereas South Africa is the " rainbow nation". As the rainbow nation, we have different ethnic
Discrimination and Affordability The South African Schools Act(SASA), Act 84 of 1996 is aimed at ensuring that all learners have access to education without discrimination and makes schooling compulsory for children aged 7 to 15. It provides for 2 types of schools, namely private and public schools. Discrimination is something that almost happens every day. A person can be discriminated because of their ethnic group, financial status\standard of living, disability and sexual orientation. Almost all of these types of discrimination are common in the school environment. The question now is how discrimination is being tackled?. Well, school uniform is one indirect way that tackles discrimination as it allows a child to look the same as others, to feel part of the school regardless of their standard of living. Although school uniform doesn't necessarily fight against all these types of discrimination it helps. The opposite is when there is no school uniform whereby a child has to fight to fit in with either expensive clothes or shoes. Let us take my school for example. When there is casual day, many learners do not even bother to come to school and those who do look on point with expensive clothes or shoes. Sometimes the school