School opening day is far from uniform

Some 7th graders yesterday attend their entrance ceremony at Huimun Middle School in southern Seoul, wearing street clothes instead of school uniforms. By Kim Seong-tae

Entrance ceremonies at middle schools in southern Seoul yesterday were decorated with the diverse outfits of new students, ranging from school uniforms, gym uniforms and street clothes.
Due to controversy over expensive school uniforms, 38 middle schools in the Gangnam area allowed students to delay wearing their school uniforms until May. The delay was offered to give parents time to buy the uniforms collectively at better prices.
At Daewang Middle School in Gangnam, around 300 students wore yellow-striped black gym uniforms. “I don’t think I will like the pictures of my child at the ceremony,” said a parent. According to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, 231 out of 360 middle schools in Seoul have their students in uniforms already. Nineteen schools, or 5.2 percent, will have the students wear uniforms from April and 95 schools, or 26 percent, from May. Fifteen schools will start wearing uniforms in June.
Eighty-five percent of the high schools in Seoul started wearing uniforms at the ceremony yesterday.

By Park Su-ryeon JoongAng Ilbo [soejung@joongang.co.kr]