Wang Yuanyuan

    Whether students’ uniforms* change before the 2011 Universiade has become a contentious* issue for students and parents.

    In some online communities, many posts referred to the possibility of uniforms being changed for the Universiade and some even suggested conducting an opinion poll, but nobody on the Internet has come up with a solution.

    The idea first emerged in 2008 when a deputy of the city’s People’s Congress suggested the city change the existing blue and white uniform and design a new one featuring the theme of the Universiade and local characteristics.

    In some online campus communities at baidu.com, most students from Shenzhen Middle School, Longgang District’s Experimental School, Shixia School and Lilin Middle School agreed to changing the uniform, saying they were ugly, but some said they would miss the uniform because the colors were “classic.”

    “Unlike many of my classmates, I do not care about the issue because I don’t think a new uniform would suit our tastes any way and I just hope I don’t have to spend too much money on the uniforms which I will never wear after graduation,” said Zhu Binsheng, a Senior 2 student at Shenzhen No.2 Experimental School.

    Parents had mixed feelings. “My child had to buy bigger uniforms recently, but many people told me I should wait until the new uniforms were decided. I asked schools and teachers, but nobody could say when. Although a uniform is only about 100 yuan, I really don’t want to waste money buying so many uniforms,” said Yin Tao, a mother of a Senior 1 student.

    The city’s Education Bureau sources said they had not decided whether to change to a new uniform for the Universiade yet. “Statistics show that there are more than 900,000 primary and middle school students in the city, so it will not be easy to change uniforms,” said Fan Kun, vice director of bureau.

    However, the city would change the uniform supplier this year and the city government purchase center would call tenders* soon. “The bidding will subject to detailed requirements fro uniform materials and standards and the design could be changed after opinion was collected from all involved,” Fan said.