Figure 1.--Singapore schools now have rather casual uniforms. Many schools, however, enforce the uniform regulations rather strictly. |
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Singapore schools have a variety of regulations concerning school uniform. All schools equire uniforms which are usully basic outfits. Most schools enforce the unifirm regulations structly. At least one school that allows older boys to wear long trousers, make them wear short pants if they misbehave.
HBC has few details at this time about uniform regulations in Singapore schools. Avai;lable images, however, show the students neatly dressed in their rather casual uniforms. The fact that virtaully all the boys invariably wear the correct uniform down to white sovks and white tennis shoes suggest that the schools are strictly enforcing the uniform regulations.
A Singapore newspaper in May 2001, reported the uniform regulations at a new school.
The ultimatum to errant boys in Coral Secondary School is blunt and clear: Behave yourselves or you are banned from wearing trousers. If you behave like brats, you wear shorts to reflect this. This sums up the out-of-the-box thinking that has taken place in this school located in Pasir Ris. There are other examples of the two-year-old school's innovative approach towards tackling issues that arise as it matures as an educational institution.
One is to get its 929 students, from Secondary 1 to 3, to provide suggestions on how to shape school rules as it grows. This includes requests to allow students to wear sports shoes and to let the upper-secondary girls wear skirts instead of culottes, which are actually shorts disguised as skirts. Founded in 1999, the school caters to residents in Pasir Ris and Tampines. As it expands next year, it will take in Secondary 4 students.
The principal, Mrs Ang Ju Lang, 52, said her 25 years as a teacher and principal had strengthened her belief in the role good discipline played in a school's growth.
'Discipline to me is not about caning; it is about self-responsibility. They are responsible for their own academic achievement.' Her belief in inculcating self-discipline has translated into the no-trousers policy for errant upper-secondary boys. But some students do not see eye-to-eye with Mrs Ang on this. Lee Yu Seong, 14, said: 'It is quite harsh. Everyone should be allowed to wear them.' In contrast, Andrew Teo, 14, felt students should 'earn' this privilege and saw it as a 'reward' for good discipline. It appears that Mrs Ang's no-nonsense approach is working. The school choir clinched the bronze
medal in the Singapore Youth Festival in 1999, and three students came in second in the Chinese Electronic Project Competition 2000. She also attributed the school's success to the hard work of her teachers. As part of the school's democratic process, year-end surveys are conducted to get students' feedback. She received some constructive comments, including a plea for her 'to dress her best', to which she responded: 'They're cute.'
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