Are uniforms such a necessity?

Are uniforms such a necessity?

I have lived in Indonesia for three years now, but it was not
long after I arrived that the importance of a uniform here was
obvious. Everywhere I go in Jakarta, uniforms are proudly worn by
various groups of people. Whilst working as a volunteer both with
a school sponsorship program in South Jakarta and overseeing a
feeding program at a school in North Jakarta, I realized that
this emphasis begins at an early age.

It would seem that parents who can barely afford to educate
their children at all, are expected to find significant sums of
money to cover the cost of up to four uniforms a week for their
children. Parents will then keep their children from school if
they cannot pay and children who do not have the official uniform
for a particular day are too ashamed to come into school. This
can even be the case if uniforms have been lost in a kampung
fire.

I also find it alarming that some teachers seem to be selling
uniforms on the side. In some countries around the world such as
America and Norway, school children need no uniform at all. My
children attend a British school, where they have one uniform for
study and one for physical education. In a hot country like
Indonesia only one uniform set would be required since clothing
can easily be dried overnight. Maybe in some families more than
one child would be able to go to school if the financial burden
of uniforms were not so great.

When I have spoken to local friends about this issue, they
respond by saying that this is a tradition that goes back many
years. True, uniforms can help to promote unity among a group of
people, but surely one per week would be sufficient. One's self
as an individual is also important for young people to
understand. I believe that it the responsibility of the teachers
and school officials to dilute the importance of uniforms. Maybe,
start by having one day a week when all children come to school
in anything they please. Surely it is better to come to school
dressed in anything you happen to have, than to receive no
education at all?

Now school books, that's another sorry story.

CAROL HODGKISS

Jakarta