Debra Li

debra_lidan@163.com

INSTEAD of white shirts, long pants, dresses, and black shoes, many primary and middle school students across Shenzhen returned to a new semester Monday wearing T-shirts, sweatpants, and white sneakers.

Previously, many schools required students to wear the formal dress version of school uniforms for flag-raising ceremonies on Mondays and significant campus events.

“This saves a heck of a lot of trouble,” one parent told the Shenzhen Daily. “My kid used to complain about not having enough time to change into the sportswear version of the school uniform on Mondays when he also had a PE lesson. The restroom on campus is always crowded, you know. If he wore a stiff shirt and long pants to the playground, it would be uncomfortable or even unsafe. The PE teacher might have also scolded him.”

The mom, whose son goes to Xiantong Primary School in Luohu District, added that her son once lost a vest when he was careless and in a hurry to change into sportswear, not collecting all his gear as she had told him to. “Some first-graders can be absent-minded and tend to forget their things. Ditching the dress version of the uniform is good news for everyone,” she said.

Not everyone, perhaps. In a tiny laundry shop that also sells school uniforms opposite the school, piles of unsold dresses waited to be sent back to the factories that produced them. The shop owner was surprised that the school no longer enforces the dress code.

“This morning, I saw first-graders in the sportswear version of uniforms streaming into the school,” the shop owner said. “It must be that their parents received official notice from the head teachers that the dress code is relaxed. Some older students still wore dresses, perhaps because they had purchased them last semester.”

“Those who still have the price tags intact and haven’t washed the dresses can return them to my shop and get a refund,” she said, adding that this is common practice for school uniform shops. “We keep our shops in neighborhoods near schools, and many parents are return customers. We can return the stocks to manufacturers as long as they are in resalable condition.”

The shop doesn’t sell the dress version of middle school uniforms because Luohu Foreign Languages School, the nearest middle school, ditched the dress code several years ago.

“My daughter never wore dresses to flag-raising ceremonies,” said a mom whose child is a 9th-grader at the school. “But the school does have a strict dress code. Apart from the sportswear version uniform and white sneakers, boys are told to keep their hair short, and girls have to tie up their hair in a ponytail, unless they choose to cut it short. Accessories such as necklaces or earrings are not allowed,” the mom said.

Shenzhen began to adopt the current sportswear and dress versions of school uniforms in 2009. A notice by the education authorities that year stipulated that students should wear formal dresses at ceremonies and sportswear the rest of the time.

In mid-August, a local parent whose child was about to enter primary school left a note on the online forum of people.com.cn, suggesting that the Shenzhen authorities should ditch the formal dress requirement for ceremonies.

“An outfit of a shirt, long pants, vest, overcoat, and black shoes, just the run-of-the-mill type, costs a few hundred yuan,” the parent wrote. “The outfit is worn just a few times each semester, and children will soon grow out of them. It’s a waste of money and a burden on parents.” The person also cited the inconvenience of formal dresses for PE lessons.

In November last year, Shenzhen began to require all public schools in the compulsory education period to arrange for at least one PE lesson on a school day.

The note prompted a quick reply from Shenzhen’s education bureau, which said that the prices of summer dresses for primary school students vary between 70 yuan ($9.84) and 200 yuan, while those of winter dresses vary between 200 yuan and 400 yuan, and could be a burden on some families. The bureau also said they would urge schools to consider the parents’ needs and stipulate a dress code that best serves them.

Not just Luohu District, multiple schools in Futian, Guangming, Longgang, and Longhua have ditched the dress code.

However, a mom whose child attends Shenzhen Foreign Languages School this fall said the school still requires formal dresses for ceremonies.

“I bought a dress two sizes larger for my daughter, hoping it will last three years through junior high school,” she joked.