The Ministry of Education has announced that public schools are no longer allowed to punish students for their attire or personal appearance, spelling an end to the enforcement of school sumptuary rules that had been a long-standing practice in public education.
Department of Student Affairs and Special Education Director-General Kao Chih-chang (高志璋) said that while the ministry had in the past issued a ban on punishing students for their appearance or attire, the new regulation clearly states that schools cannot impose penalties for restrictions on hairstyles or clothing.
Schools may continue to set rules on personal appearance and attire as long as there are no penalties for breaking the rules, and those rules should be made “in accordance with the spirit of democratic governance,” Kao said.
The ministry hopes schools will use persuasion and encouragement to develop student self-management, Kao added.
Student groups promoting the deregulation of uniforms — including the Yellow Shirt Student Movement-Disobedient Jingmei School Girls, a group of students from Taipei Jingmei Girls High School — voiced support for the new policy.
Meanwhile, the Student Alliance for the Freedom of Appearance and Attire called on students to file official complaints with the ministry if their schools refuse to abide by the new directive.
Taipei Jingmei Girls High School principal Huang Yun-chin (黃贇瑾) expressed support for the measure, saying she opposed using penalties to compel students to wear uniforms, because “only sincerely wearing [the uniform] will show confidence and beauty.”
She said the school had already achieved a consensus through democratic means that its students would remain “yellow-shirt girls,” adding that she fears students who refuse to wear uniforms or come from low-income families might face exclusion and pressure from their peers.
National Wu-Ling Senior High School principal Lin Chin-po (林清波) said the school has not received the ministry’s instructions and has not changed its uniform and appearance rules, which penalize violations with a warning.
Lin called on the ministry to clarify the meaning of “spirit of democratic governance,” saying that he objects to schools being asked by the ministry to “play bad cop” for its benefit and that he fears the policy will “escalate confrontation between schools and students.”
National Tainan First Senior High School civics teacher Kuo Fu-chi (郭復齊) said he is in favor of the directive, because it “respects students’ right to autonomy and reserves space for schools to regulate attire and appearance,” adding that it is the job of administrators and teachers to think about ways to train students to dress “with taste and safety.”
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