As a guy, I would never wear a dress, at least in public, so I say no.

Individuality: Studies have shown that students find it difficult to express themselves in schools that have uniforms. The freedom of choice and expressing through dressing is lost. In a country like India where people of different community, caste and culture live together and have different ways of dressing, it is like banning children from wearing what they prefer to wear. Instead of focusing on uniformity students need to be taught to respect each other irrespective of their community and what they wear.

2. Uniformity lost: Talking of uniformity, these days some advanced schools have different sets of uniforms for different activities and even different days. Is it really just on the part of the financially backward parents to afford these dresses? And that’s not all. Uniforms change once students go from one class to the other. This is a waste of money and unjust on the part of those parents who work really hard to afford the education of their children in a better school.

3. Teenage problems: Teens involve in gang activities and usually get into competing with students of other schools. Uniforms make them easily targetable by the students of other school who can bully them or even worse, beat them up. In this rebellious age, uniforms can also be a reason why the student might start disliking the school. The comfort level in school uniforms is also lesser than what one wears casually at home.

4. Other studies: Contrary to what scholars say, some studies have shown that uniform does not improve academic performance of a child or the way he/she develops in life. In fact, there are studies that show students who went to schools with uniforms have a bad dressing sense later in life

It would be best to allow the children of a school poll and decide what they want as dress codes. There can be uniformity in colours of the dresses but there should be choices in ways of wearing them. However, school uniforms are actually the least bothering factor that needs attention right now. There are more serious issues that need to be tackled like corruption in education system, ways of providing valued education to the underprivileged and providing financial support to those deprived of these rights.

RE: Should school uniforms be chucked off? sahana (11-28-2014)

Uniforms should be there because of reasons already mentioned like uniformity.

Already India is a place full of disparity and choosing what to wear when you actually cannot afford much like rich kids can be a stressful event for school kid.

Whereas if students need to express themselves they can have 1 day a week for non-uniform day.

RE: Should school uniforms be chucked off? Deepa Kaushik (11-28-2014)

Chucking of school uniforms would be no good. School children might get irritated with the same dressing especially in the teen age, but they lack the social sense the way adults can think to protect them from the rage of external world.

We find the country becoming more and more insecure especially for the girls / women. in such a scenario, letting the children coming up in different colours and costumes could attract the evil eyes. The other way around, the mischievous children bunking the school premises could be spotted easily with the uniforms. The most important factor would always remain the uniformity amongst the students. The children would be coming from the families of different socio-economic strata. The lower income group children should not be looked down upon just due to their appearance. The uniformity in the costumes helps the students to blend well without the partial behaviour.

School uniforms have their own pride and charm. Wearing the uniform is not only specific to the schools but the same is being followed by various companies and shops as well for their employees. Such uniforms also help the students in having some sort of restrictions in life and they learn to be disciplined in their life. Uniforms definitely have lot many benefits particularly for the school children and there is no point considering chuck-off the uniforms.

Students should have the option to wear whatever they want, because it expresses personal fashion and style, not sexism or rape. Honestly, if you feel uncomfortable because you saw someone showing their shoulders, then YOU are the problem, not us.

My sixth form had a school dress code which was followed subjectively, and it resulted in teachers picking on students they didn't like.

There was a rule where you couldn't dye your hair a bright colour. Two girls went into a lesson after the school holidays, one with bright green hair, the other with bright pink hair (let's call them Green and Pink). Green was complimented on her hair by the head of sixth form, who then told Pink in the same breath that she (Pink) had to cover it up with a hat if she didn't want to risk suspension.

The only difference? Pink wasn't well-liked by the teachers; Green was seen as something of a "special case" due to some mental health issues, and treated much more leniently in every situation.

There was also a rule where you couldn't wear short shorts unless you were wearing tights underneath. Two girls went to the head after having had an argument in which I had been involved. It was summer, so both were wearing short shorts with tights underneath. The tights were of a similar denier (thickness). One of the girls (we'll call her Sarah) was a very hard worker, a model student who ran a human rights club on Friday lunchtimes. The other girl (we'll call her Jane) was fairly average at everything.

The head of sixth form told Jane that her tights were too thin; when Jane pointed out that Sarah's tights were of the same thickness, she got the response, "It's Sarah so it's OK."

I'm sure there were unfair cases with the guys, but these were the ones that stood out in my memory.

In both cases the person discriminating was the female head of sixth form.