Uniform for Russian schoolchildren - a new item of parental expenses

Roskachestvo is already planning to start developing GOST for it. What should children, their parents and schools prepare for?

Irina Mishina

The Ministry of Education decided to dress schoolchildren in a single uniform. The first with this initiative was the head of department Sergey Kravtsov. His proposal has already been published on the website of the Ministry of Education. In addition to the introduction of a single school uniform, the minister advocated ensuring the status of the Russian language as a single state language and transferring schools to the regional level.

There would be children, but there is a form

This bill was immediately submitted to the State Duma, and its speaker Vyacheslav Volodin cheerfully reported that he was ready to adopt it before the end of 2022. “We have almost all the deputies supported this”, - Volodin said.

Really, what to pull? After all, the three-year period of validity of the preliminary national standard for school uniforms, approved by Rosstandart, expires on January 1, 2023. What will our children wear now?

If the form is the same for all, it must first of all unite. And what can unite us better now, except for the flag? Therefore, there are already assumptions about the form. For example, make it the color of the Russian tricolor: a white blouse and a blue-red skirt for girls. And boys, for example, can be dressed in white shirts, blue trousers and red jackets. A special operation, however, can leave its mark, so you need to be ready for military uniform. Or camouflage with the letter Z. Well, what other options? True, emphasizing the severity and importance of the moment, you can dress up in black. White shirts, of course, can be added for solemnity. So, for example, children were dressed on September 1 at the fashionable glamorous Letovo commercial school. Well, purely bank office, do not distinguish.

For the time being, democracy reigns in schools: whoever wants, introduces a uniform, who does not want, allows a free form of clothing.

Yefim Rachevsky, director of school No. 548 "Tsaritsyno", people's teacher of Russia: “I'm not ready to comment on the question of form yet, because I don't know what the decision of the regional authorities will be. Today, schoolchildren in our educational complex have uniforms, but the parent community is involved in this, I have many other problems related to my studies. I know that there is a certain badge on the chest, girls have a ban on transparent clothes, boys have a ban on raspberry trousers and jackets.

Yevgeny Yamburg, Honored Teacher of the Russian Federation, Director of Education Center No. 109 (Moscow) : “We have not yet received information about any mandatory form. Now the form for our schoolchildren is purchased by the parent committee. We have a uniform, it's a vest with a papyrus badge. Our schoolchildren are very proud of him, because they developed the logo of the school themselves. The bottom is jeans for boys and a skirt for girls.

In the Department of Education of Moscow, they could not give us any explanations about the uniform of Moscow schoolchildren: “Everything is still at the development stage.” They did not dispel the veil of secrets about school uniforms and in the education committee of the Moscow City Duma. “Everything is under discussion, the financing of the project is also not yet clear. But everything will be decided by the subject, that is, Moscow", - the committee explained to us.

Everything will be many times more expensive, but you hold on

School uniforms are a significant expense for any family.

When my daughter studied at some pretentious Moscow gymnasium, the girls there were obliged to dress in the Little Lady store - at least, the dress uniform for September 1 had to be bought only there. As a result, the school uniform in the dress set cost us about 10 thousand rubles in the company store. I also had to buy at least 3 sets for every day, because children tend to get dirty and even tear clothes. As a result, we spent about 30 thousand rubles on a school uniform with all these pleated skirts, jackets, sundresses and 5 mandatory white blouses. In first grade! We breathed freely only after moving to a school for gifted children, where there was no uniform, but there was a lot of interesting things.

The discussion on the parent forums now revolves around uniform costs. And there is every reason for this. School uniform this year has almost doubled in price and exceeded 3 thousand rubles. But for a week you need several such sets. These are not jeans for you, which, even if they get dirty, nothing is noticeable. Even the deputy director of Soyuzformy, Vladimir Bogomolov, recognized the rise in price of school uniforms. The reason is not only the complication of supply logistics due to sanctions. The main problem is that the industry in the composition of the industry is less than 1%, so more than 80% of the school uniform is imported. There is nothing to replace him today. Therefore, 80% of school uniforms now are imported products, including the EurAsEC countries. “The basis, of course, is the countries of Asia. Turkey, China, Bangladesh, Vietnam. Unfortunately, the production and tailoring of school uniforms in these countries is cheaper even taking into account logistics,” Bogomolov said. He also stressed that almost half of the school uniforms sold in Russia are of very poor quality. According to Bogomolov, the shape often does not even meet the level of hygienic and physico-chemical indicators determined by the technical regulations on the safety of products for children and adolescents.

But despite this, we do not doubt for a minute that a multibillion-dollar state order will soon be placed on the public procurement website, and the right company will win the tender. For example, close to the supplier of school meals, which rises in price every month and which is associated with the name of Yevgeny Prigozhin - the same one who also oversees a private military company.

Parents, of course, no one will ask, and they can only “let off steam” on forums and social networks.

MiM: “School uniforms are an additional (and not small) expense item, but not a savings at all. My child first studied at a school where suits with a jacket were required, and it was terrible. The child grew quickly, by the end of the year the suit became terribly short ... Should I buy a new one? For 3-4 months? And then what to do with it, throw it away almost new or resell? Well, the prices are not small... buy absolutely horror-horror in quality, but cheap? So it looks terrible, and the fabric is a nightmare. The child is frankly sorry. Buy expensive - money for nothing, in fact. Another school required only pants of a certain color. It became easier. But it still remains a separate item of stupid expenses - outside of school, the child walks in jeans. In winter, school, by the way, is also in jeans. The option of insulated trousers is 3-4 times more expensive than insulated jeans. But it is bought for one winter (for the child is growing).

Elen B: “ Now the younger grandchildren live in Australia, the rules of English schools are accepted there. The form is quite convenient, there are differences in different schools. And I like that everyone has the same shoes and even socks. Children do not consider each other's outfits and are not obsessed with the "brands" of clothing. One can argue about the influence of having a form on the order in the heads and life, but in reality it makes life easier for parents.

Alexander K .: “I began to pay attention to clothes in the fourth or fifth grade. We wore uniforms. But there was no equality. In addition to brown dresses and blue suits, imagine that there were jackets, raincoats, coats, fur coats, shoes, boots, briefcases and bags. And then it immediately became clear who we have the most fashionable and stylish.

Owl Sofa: "A lot of money goes to clothes ... so the form and only the form, nothing but the form !!!"

Gabriella Gabriella: “Form is a definite harm. Children shouldn't look like office clerks."

Summing up, the “pluses” of a school uniform can be described as follows: the uniform disciplines, children do not envy each other, this creates a sense of unity. Arguments against: the form drives into the framework, and the different wealth of families still manifests itself in fancy gadgets, travel photos and posts on social networks. Imposing the same dress code will not solve the problem. In addition, the majority of children do not like the monotonous form, it is not comfortable to wear and much more expensive, since children grow up, and bound by size, they will be forced to change it periodically. And this means new expenses for the family.

School uniform and health: there is a connection

There are countries in the world where school uniforms are required. Korea, Malaysia, Japan, Germany, the UK and the US are examples of countries where children wear school uniforms. This may be regulated by national rules and depends on the rules of the particular school. In some cases, not only clothes, but also hairstyles of students are regulated. For example, in Malaysia, boys are not allowed to wear hair longer than the line of the ears and collar. Girls are not allowed to wear their hair down.

In Russia, the school uniform was introduced in the 19th century under Nicholas I.

We can say that until 1917, school clothes were similar to military uniforms. Since 1918, it was decided to completely abolish the school uniform. It was returned again only in 1949. Girls had to wear dresses (strictly brown) and a white apron. The boys wore military shirts made of dense fabric. Such shirts were called gymnasts. Another rule is wearing belts with a buckle.

Changes began in 1962. At this time, the uniform of the boys changed - they were required to wear a gray woolen suit. In 1973, again, the uniform of the boys underwent changes. Boys from this year began to wear blue suits. Also, a special emblem was to be sewn on the costumes. The shape of the girls all this time remained unchanged. In 1992, the mandatory form was abolished. Now in every school there are certain rules and requirements for the appearance of students.

What to do if a compulsory school uniform is nevertheless introduced?

First of all, choose the least harmful for the child. Experts advise first of all to ask for a certificate of conformity. Then you need to look at the lining. In synthetics, as a rule, indicators for air permeability and hygroscopicity are reduced. The upper fabric must contain at least 30% natural fiber. This is wool, cotton or natural silk, in extreme cases - viscose. The higher the content of this fiber, the better the quality of the fabric. And this means that the form will not cause chronic diseases of the child. After all, clothes are first of all the health of our children, which, as usual, will remain the problem of parents, not manufacturers or suppliers.