Government clamps down on school uniforms
(CNS): Youngsters wishing to express their style, fashion sense and individuality won't be doing so in school next year as government is clamping down on how kids look at school and adhering to their uniforms. The education ministry has issued a national uniform and dress code for all government schools, which bans everything from coloured hair bands to boots. In strict new guidelines on top of each school's own policies outlining expectations regarding the uniform and PE kits, students are being told how those uniforms should be worn and limiting accessories and removing anyflexibility with students appearance.
The code states that all uniforms should be properly fitting and skirts can be no shorter than one inch above the knee. All students are required to wear black shoes/sneakers that do not contain
other colours and boots, sandals and slippers are banned.
Students are limited to small plain stud earrings, without gem stones, only on the lower ear lobe. And with the exception of watches, all other jewellery is banned. For health and safety reasons government said all jewellery is banned at the lighthouse school.
Items that display connection with gangs, such as badges, tags and tattoos, are banned, though the ministry gives no indication what happens to kids already tattooed.
Dictating that hair should be groomed and, if worn long tied back with just black or brown hair bands and no beads, students are also being told their hair must be a 'natural colour' and no extremes of hairstyles, such as a Mohawk, shaved lines/words, will be permitted.
Shaved eyebrows are also not permitted. In addition, the authorities are clamping down on make-up, nail polish and false nails.
Category: Local News
Sooo…are teachers going to wear uniforms? Why not? Hey! and why not tattoo the students with I.D. numbers?
When students get their masters degrees they don't have to wear uniforms either to school.
Tattoo id to students- not a bad idea, but maybe a simple id card would work.
Trying to pursuade my wife to wear school uniform at home…. :)))
But I suspect you would be disappointed should she comply with the national dress code in such circumstances. . .
Has anyone look into the UNIFORM DEPARTMENT. The cost of school clothing is high and who is benefiting from it? It is certainly not the parents nor the students. THIS REALLY SOUNDS LIKE A CRACK DOWN FOR MORE MONEY.
The school uniform can not cost more than the designer clothes that students love to wear.
Thank GOd. I could not bear to see them like that anymore. Thanks be to God to the person who recognizes it and need to implement or re enforce it.
In fact, the uniform skirts must be at least litte below the knees so when they sit in class they are properly covered and the boys wont be wasting their time looking.
Another thing, Girls should refrain from wearing pants, that must be left to the universities.
For about 200k everyone can be issued 5 complete matching uniforms
thats how it was done when i was in school and the stubborn kids went to office and were given a uniform if they forgot it.
what a waste of time and enegy but thats the Cayman way
Not impressed. Don’t we hear this every year? This is not change, this is reemphasizing an old rule. But what needs to be done, is stop getting ugly prison made uniforms and making shirts in whites or those that are easily dirty. Not every parent can afford the replacement cost of a dingy shirt and thats not good for a childs self esteem to have to attend like that. Might not sound like much, but the style of a uniform can change attitudes. Update to an affordable wardrobe, and you’ll see improvement – quick.
God bless them all.
Ever heard of proper laundering?
All schools need a GOOD TOUGH PRINCIPLE like C.H.H.S. Frank Sound..She is one tough fair woman …Well done Keep Up The Good Work…
Hopefully now they will work on their literacy and numeracy.
Hopefully next they will work on pupils throwing litter out of school bus windows down Walkers road…..
Parents should ensure that their kids are properly dressed for school every morning. As a parent I inspect my kids before they leave the house and see to it that they are properly dressed and adhere to the uniform code. On another note the principal of that school should adhere to the Education Dept dress code as for years her skirts have been very short and very skimpy. Just saying
Mmmm. Short and skimpy. . . .
Ok, so Education Department are not familiar with thier own dress codes?!?
This has been in place for over 12 years now. Maybe Tara Rivers never went to a government school…
All parents who's kids that go to government school are familiar with the dress code. Maybe they should inform the teachers that they employ to enforce it, then this wouldn't be a problem.
I went to John Gray and the problem was not how kids dressed but the home environment that children were coming from. Most parents are not aware of what their children are doing at school and this includes how they dress. Some kids changes thier clothes when they get to school, or put on makeup atschool, boys use markers to black out designs. A better system would have been to inform parents when thier kids voileted the dress code.
I always painted my nails at school… black, half the time, and was sent to chemistry to take them off. I was a repeat offender as long as I hid it from my Mom. Looking back now, if my Mom had been inform every time I did it, she would had checked my nails every day or punsih me every time I got detention for it. That would have made me stop.
But hey, most parents have no clue what thier kids are doing after 3pm. Some parents don't care. Most don't know anything about thier kids.
Product of a John Gray education right there…
No, 20:52, product of a crappy home environment.
Government is clearly clamping down on all the wrong things. How about we 'clamp down' on the amount of students who are graduating and not able to read or write? How about we 'clamp down' on the children who are not able to do simple math or even write logical emails? How about we 'clamp down' some job experience opportunities for these young Caymanians. Government is focusing all their attention in the wrong places. Put more time and effort into educating the students as oppose to telling them what colour headbands they can and cannot wear. What if some parents are not able to afford new school supplies for their children because of the new rules that have been implemented; does that mean we should punish or deprive a child of their education? I agree with having some rules regarding uniforms but there are so many other things that should be addressed and are much more important than nail polish and the colour of someone's headband or hair. At the end of the day if a child does not have a proper education they have no future; stop worrying about the petty things and look at the big picture!
its a start.
These rules have been around for ages and the people who complain the most about buying school supplies just came from my Miami, have the biggest t.v., latest cell phone, hair and nails fixed every week, new car, etc.
This isn't anything new.
I was at John Gray over 12 years ago and the only difference between these rules and our uniform code at the time is we could wear white/black/grey shoes (at the beginning of the year many people would use white out/black markers for any small amounts of colour), girls' earring studs could have gemstones (but still couldn't be bigger than your earlobe), and we were allowed a small chain with a pendant no bigger than a quarter.
Actually, I believe the hair rules were stricter back then because boys' hair wasn't allowed to touch their collar (this was around the same time as the infamous dreadlocks case) or be in too large of an afro (that was subjective), though, on the other hand, I don't think long hair had to be pulled back. The hairband colours could also include white/grey/blue if I recall correctly.
To the person concerned about where to get black shoes, that rule has been in place for many years and all of the shoe stores here now carry a selection of plain black sneakers specifically for children to wear to school.
I take my hat off to whoever has implemented these school laws and regulations, thank God! For years it has been a crying shame the stinch and muck that children are allowed to appear with on school buses and on into our class rooms. Thanks! Thanks! Now I pray the parents won't be causing a war because their babies will be confined to stiff regulations, obviously many of these poor kids are disdirected by parents who are afraid of these home grown disrespectful chidren. And I hope that penalties will be induced on parents who try to beat the system. I often wonder just how a parents can see their son with his pants so low that he is exposing his rectum and head shaved like a parrot, and tattoes all over the body! How? The girls, their dress code is at times worse than the boys, they can barely see for eyelashes and makeup and the length of their skirts makes it impossible to stoop, and if they do? I once was at a heardressing shop when a lady said she don't know why as her little 6 years old daughter reaches the store she runs right to the massage bed and falls asleep. I turned to her and said "you know I feel sorry for your child, and if I was her I would do the same, that poor little girlhad to be tired, the amount of weaved hair she had on, plus earings, chain around her neck, bangle(s), nail polish on both toes and fingers, rings on finger and toes. She had to be tired, burdened down with weight, those things are for the choice of a grown woman, parents please let our children be children, let them be natural and enjoy their childhood. Maybe some parents should read Leviticus 19 V 27-30 – pay attention to your children heads, beards, cuttings in the flesh, printing marks on the skin, and mothers Verse 29 is for you "only" and Verse 30 go to church and "reverence" God's sanctuary. Last, but none the lease, please someone extend these school regulations to our churches as the world has found its way right on our platforms! God have mercy on our island.
I am so glad that finally someone is doing something about it…but you know what is so sad…that it has been going on for many many years and no one did anything about it..now those children are out of school, majority jobless, or dead by gang shootings….as usual allitle to late…
The big question here is "are they going to enforce these rules", as good as the rules are, it doesn't seem that government can ever enforce any laws or rules, example: loud playing music from cars, tinted windows, breeding of banned dogs, the list is endless…..
Good luck!!!
Well done Education Department now our young people people will dress like they should.
Excellent! Now, consistancy is the key. The uniform policy must start on day 1 and do not let up on the rules.
I must say though, it will be very hard to go with just black shoes/sneakers with no other color- very hard to control. The footwear seems to be the last thing to be noticed in a uniform check and sending students home over footwear becomes a real issue. Easy for "principals" to keep extra shirts on hand to lend students (to keep students in school and give a detention for not being properly dressed then to lend footwear).
Re: to tattoos- they must have them covered. If they can cover them – have them cover them. If they are i.e. on their necks- of course, impossible, but if they can be covered…make them cover them. Remember- you are the adults and you run the school.
Re. the hair- I think that is going a bit far. Rules should just say "groomed". Children need a bit of individual style, don't you think? Nails, too. Unless at a private school??
Fundraiser idea- once a semester- jean day or out of uniform day- any student wanting to do so pays $1.
You haven't met the principal of CHHS. Children show up with black shoes and white trim, she is quick to give them a black permanent marker to colour over the white! Kids show up with any other colour shoes because "they didn't know the school rules" she doesn't just accept that, she promptly informs the parents that these rules have been in place for years, she is simply enforcing them so she is sorry that they spent over $150 to buy shoes for their little Johnny but it is not the appropriate footwear and don't come back to school unless they are all black. Many parents don't like her because she enforces the rules and many more parents love her because she does. Keep up the good work CHHS Principal, we are proud of the way CHHS students look.
I disagree with 'groomed' hair. None of the children should require any individual style in their look unless off the school campus. The reason for being at school is to learn. All boys should have short hair no more than one inch. All girls ponytail if long. No style. No long nails. Nothing. School is not a fashion show. I also disagree about the length of the skirt. It should be mid knee length at the shortest.
Children with tattoos should be sent to the hospital for removal of these tattoos. You don't like the rules. Send your child to a private school.
The parents that do not like these rules are probably the same ones that cannot keep a job, unemployed or are having difficulty finding a job. Usually the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
Let us see how long these rules will be adhered to. Maybe a month. WHAT'S THE USE We just do not continue to practice what we preach.
WOW, about time! A sign that someone recognizes that there is an elephant in the room after all!!
Does the elephant wear school uniform too?
Of course, as per today's standard – shirt outside the pants, and pants waist somewhere above the knee, and belt end dangling somewhere near. LOL.
To hell with the stupid Cayman Government! They worry too much about the wrong shit! How these kids choose to carry themselves has nothing to do with thier education, in these times clamping down on uniforms should be the least of thier worries try clamping down on crime, murders' assaults & robberies are the things that need to be clamped down on! In these times you would expect them to give these kids more freedom to be themselves instead of trying to limit them to the what thier already stupid perception of what society is supposed to be in Cayman. You provide nothing for your youth to excel or to try to turn thier modern day visions and dreams into reality unlike many other parts of the world! & they way some of these kids choose to carry themselves could very well shine light on how creative they would be if they were allowed to do it freely. For being so modernized & corrupted the government is yet to open thier eyes to reality & tend to expect people to live in a very biased society where the enforcers are nothing but corruption themselves. There's nothing wrong with rules but they go way overboard when there is so much to be fixed on this island starting with themselves.
At most jobs there is a uniform code and it is best that students start learning to adhere to it in high school. There will be alot of resentment at first, but after awhile, students will wear the uniforms properly if the rules are consistently enforced.
My question "what happens when the child shows up at school with uniforms three sizes to big, pants hanging down his behind, shirts to big, etc"., are they going to just send him home???? I am sure he will be happy?
What should happen is that they call the parent in – have the parent get a new uniform- and in the mean time the student attends classes( or goes to an in-house discipline room to attend classes there until the new uniform is brought in).
Call the parent in. It is the parents responsibility to purchase uniforms that for properly.