Thailand

Majority says school uniforms should remain mandatory – NIDA Poll

Published

Sunday, December 13, 2020 14:55

According to a new poll, a majority of Thai people think the student uniforms should remain mandatory in Thai schools, while others say casual outfits should also be allowed some days of the week. The latter opinion, which was part of the recently conducted National Institute of Development Administration Poll, was reportedly due to keeping the peace and easing tensions between students and education officials.

The NIDA poll was conducted on December 7 and 8, with 1,332 people, aged 15 and over, responding. Respondents were from all levels of education and employment. The poll focused on gathering opinions on school uniforms after the Bad Student protest group demanded students to do away with uniforms in an appeal to the strict rules that funnel through Thailand’s government schools.

Almost 70% of respondents said uniforms for students should remain mandatory, with 12% saying casual attire should be allowed some days of the week. About 7% say the decision should be up to the school’s administration and 5% say the decision should be made by the students.

Of those who think casual attire should be allowed on some days, almost 51% say 1 day a week would suffice, while 37% say 2 days a week, and almost 10% saying 3 days a week. When asked whether they support the Bad Student protests, almost 73% said no, citing the need for students to focus on their studies. 27% said they did support the movement, citing individual rights needing to be respected, while the rest had no answer or were not interested.

The Bad Student protest group has urged students to ditch their uniforms and wear their own clothes from the start of the new term. The movement posted an appeal on Twitter, calling on students to wear what they want.

“Finally, we can discard the obsolete uniforms and have the freedom to wear personal clothes. To all students, throw away those uniforms on December 1, and dress the way you prefer to go to school – #saygoodbyetouniforms.”

SOURCE: Bangkok Post

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16 Comments

Mister Stretch

Sunday, December 13, 2020 at 3:09 pm

While I come from a country and culture that loves individualism and freedom and the idea of telling children they must wear a uniform is abhorrent, I do see the reasoning behind uniforms in a country of such mixed socioeconomic levels.

I’ve lived and worked in ten countries, so far. Nearly all of them advocate student uniforms for the simple reason that their students come from families that vary widely, in terms of income and finances.

Uniforms allow for students to not be singled out for being rich, poor, or even having bad sartorial opinions.

It isn’t the uniforms that create this problem of “militarism” or “lack of critical thinking”, it’s a terrible and inconsistent education system populated by many (not all, there are some great ones) people who simply should not be teachers.

The “Bad Students” truly are bad students if they can’t look at issues beyond clothing. Clothing is neither freedom nor is it incarceration. It’s clothing.

Demanding a change in how they are educated to meet a new world. Now, THAT is something worth fighting.

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- James Pate
  
  Sunday, December 13, 2020 at 7:24 pm
  
  A lot good points there, Mr. Stretch. However, I believe that what the students are saying is that the uniforms are a symbol for many of the wrongs you identified.
  
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- Karen
  
  Sunday, December 13, 2020 at 11:22 pm
  
  l actually think that your point that “. Nearly all of them advocate student uniforms for the simple reason that their students come from families that vary widely, in terms of income and finances.” doesn`t take into account that for poorer families and there are many of them, that buying a uniform is costly and particularly if there are more children in the family !
  And as for uniforms being a leveler to avoid poorer students being singled out, well l can tell you that when l was at school decades ago no matter if we all wore uniforms that we as a class always knew who the poor kids were or what kind of homes they came from, it was apparent by their many days off, thefact that one girls note from her mother saying she couldn`t attend as she had no shoes and by the general behaviour of those pupils who were often either very quiet and timidor always in trouble of some sort, but we always knew !!
  
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  - James Pate
    
    Monday, December 14, 2020 at 5:10 am
    
    Absolutely right, Karen. Attended 2 schools with uniforms and 2 without, decades ago. In the schools with uniforms, we all knew the kid with frayed collars, faded hand me downs, scuffed shoes whose mom gave him a bad haircut. We also knew the kid with the Rolex watch, Bally shoes and, crisp, professionally dry cleaned, tailor-made uniforms whose driver delivered him every day. I agree. We always knew.
    
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    - Issan John
      
      Monday, December 14, 2020 at 5:17 pm
      
      “… we all knew the kid with frayed collars, faded hand me downs, scuffed shoes whose mom gave him a bad haircut. We also knew the kid with the Rolex watch, Bally shoes and, crisp, professionally dry cleaned, tailor-made uniforms whose driver delivered him every day. …”
      
      … now why do I think there’s a teeny bit of poetic licence here …?
      
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  - Issan John
    
    Monday, December 14, 2020 at 7:34 am
    
    Are aware of the provisions for providing free school uniforms in Thailand, including school shoes, as you don’t appear to be?
    
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    - James Pate
      
      Monday, December 14, 2020 at 12:51 pm
      
      Well aware. It’s a pittance, depending on the size if the clothes and it’s a bureaucratic nightmare to get the reimbursement, which is the usual process, depending on the school. Some rural families have a hard time with coming up with the cash up front and some can’t handle the fight to get reimbursed. There are a lot of upcountry moms washing clothes every night because the kid has 1 uniform, resulting in it wearing out more quickly. Moreover, hand me downs are almost impossible for shirts and blouses because the kid’s name and/or ID number, depending on the school and grade, are embroidered on. Difficult if not impossible to re-do that. So, free uniforms are not that easy to get.
      
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      - Issan John
        
        Monday, December 14, 2020 at 4:39 pm
        
        Evidently not that “aware” as that’s not how the system works!
    - Karen
      
      Wednesday, December 23, 2020 at 9:18 pm
      
      James Pate is obviously talking about his experiences in the uk,NOT Thailand, as am l and there will be many otherssaying the same thing. l have no idea what sort of school you went to, perhaps a public school, lol, but in the real world of comprehensives, secondary modern etc, the facts are there for all who care to take an honest look !!! !!!
      
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- Singharacha
  
  Tuesday, December 15, 2020 at 2:02 am
  
  @Mister Stretch
  Your message is perfect and pleases me
  The result of this survey is comforting and shows that the majority of the Thai people have common sense.
  
  I was collegian and student a country where uniform was abolished a long time before my education. As a result many student are poorly dressed or wear trashy clothes. Some girls even as young as 14 wear fashionable clothing, make-up, high-heeled shoes, others wear sneakers but from well-known and expensive brands.
  
  In this country there is total freedom of dress but no freedom of expression, increasingly poor education and a dramatic lowering of the intellectual level of the population .
  
  Uniform does not mean militarism or authoritarianism but fairness, respect for others, order and discipline. A people cannot have freedom without order.
  
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  - Karen
    
    Wednesday, December 23, 2020 at 9:28 pm
    
    You can have respect for others, order and discipline WITHOUT a uniform !!! and l have seen examples of lack of respect, discipline in schoolsWITH a uniform. ln Germany and in fact most of Europe they don`t wear them and Germany, as everybody knows, is a very disciplined and ordered country.
    l live in England and l have seen RIDICULOUS cases of children being sent home because their shoes were NOT QUITE exactly as they should have been, or boys who hair was either too short, or too long !! Children are there TO LEARN,that is the main aim and as long as that is carried out effectively by competent teachers then what they wear should be irrelevant !!
    
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Ian

Sunday, December 13, 2020 at 6:25 pm

Superb I couldn’t agree more mister stretch you put it so well

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Bobby B

Sunday, December 13, 2020 at 8:40 pm

Uniforms are good. No issues with bullying because the kids don’t have latest fashion. Kids can be very cruel to each other and many parents can afford to buy the latest fashion clothes for there children. So from that aspect a uniform is great.

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- James Pate
  
  Monday, December 14, 2020 at 4:57 am
  
  I wore uniforms until about age 15. I fail to see any correlation between uniforms and reduced bullying whatsoever. Some kids will simply be bullies, with or without uniforms. In fact, I was bullied in 2 schools with uniforms and never bullied at 2 schools without them.
  
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  - Ynwaps
    
    Monday, December 14, 2020 at 9:51 am
    
    The government should think about getting rid of the uniforms, splitting the students into tiny irrelevant groups that fight for different social justice things until it just becomes noise with the rest.
    
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- Issan John
  
  Monday, December 14, 2020 at 5:13 pm
  
  Exactly – it doesn’t require a degree in child psychology, just some commone sense.
  
  Obviously it won’t somehow stop bullying, but it reduces it and reduces the “us and them” / “haves and have-not’s”, which is the point some are somehow missing.
  
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