School Uniforms: Tradition, benefit or predicament?

Abstract

This article focuses on the controversies surrounding school uniforms. Roleplayers in this debate in South Africa are parents, learners and educators, and arguments centre on aspects such as identity, economy and the equalising effect of school uniforms, which are considered in the literature to be benefits. Opposing viewpoints highlight the fact that compulsory uniforms infringe on learners’ constitutional rights to self-expression. The aim of this research was to determine the perspectives of parents, learners and educators at public schools in Vanderbijlpark, South Africa, on obligatory school uniforms. A structured questionnaire was used to gather data. A random stratified sample of learners, and their parents and educators was chosen. Results revealed that most parents and educators, and nearly two-thirds of the learners were highly in favour of school uniforms. Regarding the advantages and disadvantages of eight factors pertaining to obligatory school uniforms, the educators rated seven of the eight factors higher than parents and learners did, while parents rated the same factors higher than learners did, implying that learners were the least positive in their outlook on school uniforms.

Keywords:

• obligatory school uniforms
• English schooling tradition
• historical analysis
• community opinion