Need to adopt common school uniform – Times of India

The ongoing Sri Lankan economic crisis pushes us to look more closely at issues that require immediate reforms to curb wastage at a national level. Among various prevalent issues, the one dealing with uniforms in schools and colleges across the nation needs to be pondered upon. This might seem like a trivial matter, but evolutionary steps are required to slowly raise the level and speed of reforms. Uniforms must not just bring uniformity to the institutions, but should also be the building blocks for unity at the national level.

Education has multiple objectives including creating a sense of nationhood, preserving national culture, instilling a sense of pride in the country, and creating model citizens. However, with multiple education boards and a plethora of uniforms, the entire system seems to have been defeated. There have been many debates about the plausibility of a uniform education system and a uniform dress code.

1) Education is predominantly a state matter, due to which various state governments lay down their own education acts. While these may not explicitly mandate a uniform to be worn, they may have some guidelines on the same, with the final decision-making power resting with the institution itself.

2) There have been debates highlighting the ‘pluses’ and ‘negatives’ about the adoption of uniforms in schools/colleges. One argument advocates doing away with uniforms altogether. Believers of this line of thinking argue that India is now a mature nation-state, so the need for a uniform, per se, on the lines of the United States, is redundant. The counter-argument is that adoption of uniforms maintains a sense of connection with the institution, and avoids drawing attention to the social state of the students as they come from all walks of life.

3) If the pro uniform argument is taken forward, it needs to be decided till which class should uniforms be made applicable. The 86th Amendment to the Constitution of India (2002), Article 21 A (Part III) seeks to make free and compulsory education a fundamental right for all children in the age group of 6-14 years. The New Education Policy (NEP) 2020 aligns students of the age of 14 years with standard VIII. Keeping both in mind, it may be concluded that school uniforms can be mandated up to standard VIII at schools across the nation. This will help avoid unnecessary expenditure incurred by parents when they move from one place to another, notwithstanding the reason.

4) What this common uniform should be will require a deliberation to avoid any societal negativity and can be evolved based on consensus. Institutions can have a small badge of their insignia/logo, which can be worn separately on the uniform and can be removed when no longer a part of that institution. Thus, relational identity will also be maintained while the uniform will be usable across the nation heralding an era of ‘one nation-one uniform’.

5) Students beyond class VIII should be allowed to dress as per their choice, with the institution badge being a part of the uniform in a removable manner i.e., a pin or a badge.

6) Whether a uniform should be limited till class VIII or should be extended till class X/XII is a matter of further deliberation. The savings that parents, especially from those of the lower and lower middle class, will make due to this, will be an asset to the nation.

A common uniform code will ensure that the nexus of certain institutions and shopkeepers to fleece parents will be eliminated. Funding of this common uniform can be done by the government till class VIII in the spirit of Right to Education Act and NEP, with nominal contributions by parents.

Therefore, it can be said that adopting a common uniform, nationally funded by the Government till standard VIII, with the institution’s badge being a detachable part of the uniform is a viable option. Students can have the freedom to wear their civilian attire thereafter with the institution’s badge. Related norms that are finalized should be applied to all educational institutions in the country.


(The author is VSM (Retd), a Kargil war veteran and defence analyst)