School uniforms can foster sense of past in confused modern Russia

By Kondrokov Alexander Source:Global Times Published: 2013-5-12 21:08:01

Illustration: Liu Rui/GT
Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

 

Mandatory school uniforms are staging a comeback in Russia, after being canceled for two decades. Since September 1, primary and middle school students will be obliged to wear it again.

Historically in Russia, school uniforms were closely linked to the school's prestige, academic quality, talent reserve and management level. In the Soviet era, the learning of primary and middle school students was actually far beyond the level today.

The fashion of school uniform was initially introduced in 1834 from Britain to Russia. At that time, only boys wore school uniforms. Then in 1896, girls' schools appeared in Russia, and hence girls' school uniforms too.

Boys wore a cap, a stand-up collar coat with a leather belt, a pair of trousers, and black leather shoes. Each student carried a square leather backpack. Girls' school uniforms were equally strict, a brown one-piece dress with a black or white apron.

After the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, royal schools became a symbol of the capitalist class, and school uniforms thus symbolized the upper class and the lack of freedom among students. Moreover, the country, falling into economic plight, could not afford school uniforms either.

School uniforms didn't come back until later in the Soviet period, and the basic colors, styles and even ornaments were no different from the ones during the Tsarist period. I went to school in such uniforms in the 1950s, as did Putin.

There were some changes in school uniform in the 1960s and 1970s. But when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1992, school uniforms, as a legacy of the Soviet era, disappeared with historical dust.

Nowadays, there are several reasons behind the restoration of school uniforms. For instance, the wealth gap, which is increasingly apparent and is also embodied in school kids' clothes, can be covered over by school uniforms. Nostalgia for the Soviet era is also an element.

A recent religious conflict in a Russian school also pushed the coming back of school uniforms. A school in southern Russia's Stavropol region banned students from wearing headscarves. Muslim parents brought the case to a local court, which later upheld the school's uniform requirements.

Putin made a statement on the incident, stressing that Russia is a civilized country and suggested the consideration of bringing back school uniforms. Putin's proposal was backed by many politicians, experts and also the public.

At the moment, there is no united school uniform across Russia. But some elite schools, especially in Moscow and St. Petersburg, have their own uniforms to stress specific identity.

However, controversies have never stopped. Some believe wearing school uniform can help students foster the sense of discipline and focus on schoolwork, whereas others hold that the uniforms humiliate children by limiting their individual character.

In my eyes, the development of children's individual character, in today's Russia, is decided by their own wisdom. Serious clothing will help create a serious atmosphere which helps kids to prioritize academic achievement.

But certainly, one of the primary concerns for parents is the price of school uniforms, and whether low-income or multi-children families can afford it.

No parents want their kids to wear poorer clothes than other school children. Many parents are nostalgic toward school uniforms in the Soviet era, but they also remember that at that time, most students were not used to wearing the uniforms and were not happy wearing them.

Today, school uniforms should be promoted in a gradual way, and start from the first grade in elementary school. And this should be slowly and systematically applied nationwide, because otherwise it will very hard to explain to a kid why he needs to go to school in uniform while his friend needs not.

The author is a manager of Grand Renome Co., Ltd and lives in Moscow. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn


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