Honestly, I do not have any memories related to my elementary school apron-good or bad. Do you? 'We used to wear it to school', that's all I remember. I do not recall ever mumbling about having to wear it everyday. You can even say it was good, really. What you would wear was definite every single morning. I think that I do the exact same thing nowadays. Always the same blazer jacket, the same kind of shirts and pants. Same brand shoes, too. It is truly comfortable. It seems to me this is a habit we have grown accustomed to from the early days of elementary school. Those were my feelings the other day while I was reading the article, 'Ministry of Education would allow informal clothing in schools'. Then I wondered, 'I never had a problem wearing it, but was this school apron habit, unique only to our country? What was that all about, some sort of experiment on creating all-alike people? Were our souls crumpled?' Nowadays, when you get curious like that, you can get pretty fast answers to your questions. For two reasons: One, you can ask the young economists at TEPAV, and two, you have access to any part of the world that you wish, thanks to internet. Look what I have learned about these aprons. At first I was rather clueless, but now I do not find the decision of the Ministry of Education very wise. I hope they have taken this step thinking over the results thoroughly.

The most up-to-date online news related to this issue is from the US. According to this, at Aniston City, located in Alabama, the informal clothing is being abolished at the end of this semester at four out of elementary schools. From now on, they are going to be using school aprons. Reading the news, you understand that the reason behind this decision is purely operational. In the US, wearing school aprons or uniforms is not a custom. Clothing is informal. However, that does not mean that everybody can come to school in any way they would like. There is a dress code in schools. This differs from one school to another. Consequently, teachers have to check every single morning whether the students have come to school dressed appropriately. That's why, the administrators of the four schools out of five in Aniston City, have decided to switch to school uniforms, due to the cost of implementing the dress code. So as you can see, school uniform regulation does not have to be related to the desire to 'create all-alike people'. The issue is closely related to the operational cost of running a school. This is the first point.

Moving on to the second one: A few years ago Poland went back to school aprons. The apron was essentially like a symbol of communism. Poland used aprons in the 80's and 90's. Then, post-communism, there came the liberty of clothing. But according to the survey conducted in 2007, 70% participants wanted the uniforms back. These, of course, are the parents. Three quarters of the kids did not want them back. Let me note that the school administrators also reacted positively to this change back, due to the first point I mentioned above. At this point, here is the second analysis: the school uniform, being cost-efficient, is a good mechanism also for the parents. That is how this argument in Russia first started, anyway. The liberty, brought in 1992, was limited with an article that said the requesting Parent-Teacher Associations would be able to bring the uniforms back. They have a similar discussion over there, as well.

And this should be the third point: When you look at the history of the school uniform system, you see that the first regulation is the emergence of uniforms, in the 16^th century. Back then, the uniform was designed as a privilege for the young aristocrats. There was this requirement of wearing uniforms in schools where everyone was not accepted. The uniform was later democratized. In the meantime, it spread to all the English colonies. It is the English custom that lies beneath the fact that today; in everywhere from Pakistan to India, Indonesia to Egypt, the school uniform is widespread. This means that, the matter also has a historical and traditional aspect. The ones who get to wear the uniform are proud of the school they belong to. They wear it because it proves they are different from those other people out there. This is the third point. In this respect, can we say that the school uniform is used as a mechanism which wipes the class differences out? This is a common argument, too. There are those who think that the later the kids realize how different they are from each other, the better; because they are going to realize it throughout life, anyway. Especially in European countries like France, Germany where the liberty of clothing sort of exists in primary education level, there are presently some discussions about going back to school uniforms. But it is hard to tell whether it is because they are so sensitive that they do not want their children to realize the class differences at such an early age, or because they are worried about the increasing number of headscarves in European classes. It seems that arguments have begun since a number of girls wanted to go to school in burqas, in Germany. Let this be our fourth point, if you may. When you look it up on the internet, lots of newspaper columns come up, so you read and learn all about it.

There is a fifth point to state. In Italy, for instance, the historical reason for switching to school uniform regulation is the longing for shaking the shame of the Mussolini period off. This means decisions to switch to school uniforms can be made in order to shake off the historical shame. This shows that ideological steps can be taken. As I said in the beginning, I do not recall any good or bad memories related to school aprons. I first started wearing them in elementary school in Bursa Merinos Elementary. In my secondary school years in Bursa Maarif Koleji, which later became Bursa Anadolu Lisesi, we had another customary school uniform. This means starting from elementary school through the end of secondary school, including the preparatory class, I sort of spent 12 years of my life in a school uniform. The only habit that is left to me from those days, is carrying my tie inside the pocket of my jacket. I am only glad that as I get older, day by day I wear my tie less; in the meantime, the ties keep staying in my pocket or in the drawer of my desk.

The discussion about school uniforms keeps on going around the globe. As you can see, there is a cost of abolishing school uniforms. Liberation does not mean irregularity, there is a dress code. Authority is given to school administration and Parent-Teacher Association. The schools need to be regionalized in order to be able to abolish the uniforms. From an administrative perspective, it is seen that a new system needs to be designed. The issue is not solved by just saying, 'Uniforms are abolished.'

This commentary was published in Referans daily on 22.05.2010