PESHAWAR: The Elementary and Secondary Education (E&SE) Department has proposed three different types of uniforms for students of the government schools to be used from the upcoming academic year.

Officials said that the parent-teacher councils (PTCs) of the schools would be authorised to select a uniform for the respective schools. Currently, students of the government schools wear shalwar-kameez made of militia cloth. The uniform for girl students will remain the same, they said.

According to the education department’s specification, students at the primary level will wear shalwar-kameez of militia cloth or medium grey trouser, sky blue shirt and navy blue pullover as the official school uniform.

The students enrolled in the middle, high and higher secondary schools will be wearing white shalwar-kameez or grey trouser, sky blue shirt and navy blue pullover. The students would not wear cap as part of their uniform as they currently do, the officials said.

The PTC is a school-based body consisting of parents of the enrolled students, influential of the area and administration officials of the respective school. It executes civil works like construction of the additional classrooms, boundary wall, lavatories and purchase of furniture, classroom consumables, laboratory equipment, etc.

“The PTC is authorised to select the uniform for the school whether to use shalwar-kameez or trouser and shirt. But it is mandatory that all students of the respective school will wear one type of uniform,” a senior official in the education department told this correspondent. He said that the members of PTCs would decide about the uniform keeping in view the local culture and convenience of the students.

Talking to Dawn, a headmaster of a government primary school hailed the education department’s decision of changing the students’ uniform. He said that the students of government schools did not feel good while seeing the colourful uniform of the private schools.

However, he said that wearing trouser and shirt would put the students in trouble in those schools where the students used to sit on the floor in the absence of furniture. He said that majority of the 28,000 government schools in the province lacked furniture.

The government is determined to provide furniture to the schools as around Rs2 billion has been allocated in the current financial year for buying furniture, an official said, adding that it would take four to five years to provide furniture to all the government schools.

One of the district education officers said that white shalwar-kameez would easily get dirty while sitting on floor in the absence of furniture. The mothers would not be happy with this as they have to wash their sons uniform frequently, he said, adding that they would go for militia uniform.

Then Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal government had also replaced the militia uniform in the government schools with white shalwar-kameez uniform some 10 years back. However, the Awami National Party-led provincial government reintroduced the militia uniform in the schools.

Published in Dawn, March 20th, 2016