It turns out that this is a moot point. 77% of Russians are in favor of the introduction of compulsory school uniforms, and one in five is against it.
77% of Russians believe that it is worth re-introducing the compulsory school uniform, which was abolished in 1992 by the Law of the Russian Federation “On Education”. Every fifth of us does not support this idea. Minister of Education and Science Dmitry Livanov gives his arguments: the uniform will teach schoolchildren to dress rationally, remove confessional differences between children, and influence the identity of students in one school*.
And on the Facebook page, psychologist and educator Marina Aromshtam reflects: “Oxford and Cambridge have their own form. Football teams have uniforms. And the Venice Carnival – too, but completely different. Even the organizers of the Nobel Prize ceremony oblige the nominees to come to the ceremony in tailcoats. The form itself is only a sign of something. It matters why they wear it. In our case, school uniforms are a symptom of a return to a disciplinary model of education. People argue their “for” like this: “school uniform disciplines”. It does not help to feel belonging to a certain community – attractive and interesting for the child – namely, it disciplines. That is, it separates from itself and includes it in a controlled mass. And why in this case we do not introduce a single form for all? In general, for all residents of the Russian Federation? It’s so disciplined.”
* From an interview with the Vesti Nedeli program on November 17, 2012.