The new uniform pattern will help girls look beautiful, says Tanvir Sait

From the next academic year, girl students in government high schools will have to officially make the switch from wearing skirts and shirts to churidar as uniform. The Department of Primary and Secondary Education got in principle approval from Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday for the purpose.

It will be applicable to around 5.18 lakh girl students in government high schools from the 2017-2018 academic year.

Justifying the need for the change, Minister for Primary and Secondary Education Tanvir Sait said that the new uniform pattern would help girls look “beautiful”. However, sources pointed out that the proposal was floated last year after a series of sexual harassment cases were reported in schools. Mr. Sait, however, said that the colour of uniforms and cost of dress were yet to be worked out.

While the State government gives the material to students, the onus of stitching them is on the schools. Many high school students in fact are already wearing churidar. However, with Mr. Siddaramaiah giving nod for making it as the uniform, schools will have to ensure that high school students will have to mandatorily wear churidar and not skirts and shirts. Girl students in primary schools will continue to wear skirts and shirts/blouses. Meanwhile, boys in primary schools will continue to wear shorts and skirts and while high school boys will wear pants and shirts.

The move has received mixed response from students and teachers. While a section has welcomed it saying it would make girls feel more comfortable, another section has said that institutionalising this would amount to taking away the autonomy of students. “It is sometimes uncomfortable to participate in sports in churidar and we should have the option of wearing skirts at least during days when we have the sports period,” Pooja S., a high school student in a government school in Bengaluru, said.

However, Harshika S.J., another high school student said that many students particularly in rural areas felt more “comfortable” in churidar. But, her teacher said that while she was all for the switch, it would be foolish to think that this would stop sexual harassment.