ONE of Singapore's biggest private schools is cracking down on student dress, banning
mini-skirts, flip-flops, dyed hair and visible tattoos, among a host of other things.
The decision by the Management Development Institute of Singapore (MDIS) has
upset many of its 12,500 students, who called the
rules draconian.
'I think (they) are unnecessary. We are studying at a private institution, not at a secondary school or polytechnic,' said final-year mass communications student Raaj Kumar, 18. 'We should have the freedom to choose what we want to wear to school.'
The wide-ranging crackdown, which began last month, leaves the school with tougher
enforcement on dress standards than most universities and polytechnics. The dress code includes a prohibition on shorts, singlets, low-cut tops, slippers and facial piercings.
'The objective of coming to MDIS is to study, not to display distasteful dressing,' the school's senior manager for student administration, Ms Jamuna
Rani, said yesterday. 'Students who are here genuinely to study may be put off or influenced by that.'
The school, which offers over 65 programmes, including English and mass communication
diplomas, has campuses in Queenstown and Dhoby Ghaut. It has had watchers stationed at school entrances every morning since last month and has sent others on roving patrols in search of offenders, who are given verbal warnings.
Those who flout the rules repeatedly face suspension and being expelled.
The strict enforcement has irked students. Final-year mass communications student Matthew Ingrouille, 18, has been pulled up twice for wearing slippers to school. But he has no plans to wear proper shoes. 'I've always dressed like this and I don't see why I need to change,' he said.
Final-year business management degree student Vivian Zeng was warned twice for wearing mid-thigh length denim shorts and having dyed blond hair. The 24-year-old, who is from China, has decided to shelve the shorts. 'I understand that this is a school and we should respect our teachers so I've decided to follow the new rules. But I find the rules too restrictive. Universities in China do not have such
rules.'
MDIS said its dress code has been in place since 2002 even though school officials started strictly enforcing it only last month when faced with a surge of miniskirts, bottle-blonds and slipper-clad youths. Secretary-general R. Theyvendran dismissed claims that the rules were too strict. 'A certain amount of basic decency should be maintained. Otherwise, those who are serious about studying will be put off by these people,' he said.
Image consultant Elaine Heng, who advises clients on how to dress for interviews and
work, said the MDIS imposes too many dress restrictions.
But the idea of instilling in students the importance of proper dressing is a good one, she said. 'One of my clients wanted to go for a job interview in sneakers. The rules will remind the students of the importance of looking presentable,' she said.
A check with the three local universities, polytechnics and private schools found most have dress codes stated on their websites, but many of these are not as rigidly
enforced.
While MDIS said it is prepared to give a full refund to students who want to leave the school, it has not come to that yet. In fact, the number of offenders has dropped from 45 a day last month to 15 this month.
By Sien Wee.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading through this article, even though I do understand what Management Development Institute of Singapore’s senior Manager for student administration, Ms Jamuna Rani and Secretary-general R. Theyvendran is trying to allow the students have a properly student environment not affected by dressing and to instil in students the importance of proper dressing. I do find it a bit unnecessary for having such tight dress code.
In local universities, polytechnics and private schools, most students are young adult, hence they should be allow to wear what they feel comfortable in to study so that they can fully concentrate. Even thought Ms Jamuna Rani and R. Theyvendran said that they were afraid that those who are serious about studying may be put off and are able to concentrate by those who dress up to casually to school, I beg to differ, if a student is serious about studying, I do not think that what people around them are wearing will affect them in their studies. As for instilling in students the importance of proper dressing, I think that most young adult will know when they are suppose to dress well for certain situation.
Due to the heavy dress restrictions, there may be a small amount of students who might quit the school, majority of the students might also be affected by this change too and will have to start dressing properly in order to go to school.
By Teresa!
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the article, I have both agreements and disagreements towards the situation.
For MDIS to impose such a strict rule in the school environment certainly have made many students unhappy. This resulted in the many complaints given by the students who study in a private institution.
However, I think this is a good practice among students to start adapting to this new change of clothing, considering working in the future. For business related courses, it is very important to be presentable to bosses and clients. Thus, I would have to agree with MDIS for imposing strict rules for attire in private institutions.
However, I also disagree to a small extent. Students who study in a private institution would prefer to study in comfort. For some of the students, they prefer wearing shorts and mini skirts as it is less warm, considering the environment in the school.
Overall, I still agree that MDIS should implement this new rule despite the many complaints by the students. The strictness of this rule will benefit students in the near future.
P.s. great job for the many blog posts the past few weeks guys!(:
ReplyDeletei miss going superdog with yall and laugh at the waiter! haha!
By Yeh Gee
ReplyDeleteStudents in polytechnics, private institutions and universities have the freedom to choose what they want to wear to school. However, they should respect the school and abide by their respective school rules regarding the dress code.
I have observed female students who wear mini-skirts and low-cut tops to school. I feel that these clothings are inappropriate to be worn to school, as they do not look presentable. Students should not dye their hair, have any facial piercings or visible tattoos, as they do not look decent. Flip-flops, slippers and sandals should also not to be allowed in school as they look too casual and it is not appropriate.
Although students wear what they perceive as comfortable to school, they should maintain basic decency, because the school is a place to study, thus they should not cause distractions to other students with their inappropriate dress code.
I feel that strict rules and regulations regarding the dress code should be enforced by the school in order for students to understand the importance of dressing appropriately, because after they graduate, their future employers will observe their dress standards and employ them only when they look appropriate and decent. Thus, it is wise for students to learn the appropriate dress code while they are still in school.
Adeline (:
ReplyDeleteIn the Ministry of Education in Singapore, the dressing code is very strict starting from primary school all the way to university. In some primary schools, students must have clean shoes and uniforms must be tuck-in. Thus, students like us in polytechnic, private institution or university are given the privilege to wear home clothing. This means that the Ministry of Education believes that since we are young adults, we are able to wear decently and abide the school rules.
However, despite the school rules, I have seen many students wearing mini-skirts, slippers and shorts. Inappropriate hair colour , tattoos and piercing are also noticeable. Although students are given the freedom to choose what they want to wear to school, they must know their limits.
I support the decision that the Management Development Institute Singapore (MDIS) is banning mini-skirts, flip-flops, dyed hair and visible tattoos. The school is supposed to be a place to study and to create an environment which is conducive. It is to give us knowledge and be useful to the society.
If the dressing code is not strict, students will not know the proper attire when they go out to the society to work. Dressing will give the first impression when it comes to job interview. How would the manger think of you if you dress floppily and too causally? It only implies that even a simple thing like wearing appropriately you fail to do, how will you be able to treat your work seriously? It is will be likely that the manager will not employ you.
In conclusion, I recommend the school to have constant check on their student’s attire to ensure the good image for the school.
By Dewei.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the article, I agree to the decision made by Management Development Institute of Singapore (MDIS). Although MDIS is a private institute, but after all, it is still an institute for students to study. Therefore, students should not dress themselves inappropriately, such as wearing low-cut tops, mini-skirts etc.
In the article, it has mentioned that watchers are stationed at school entrances every morning since last month and has sent others on roving patrols in search of offenders, who are given verbal warnings. However, I think that by giving verbal warnings are not enough. The school should record down the students’ name and send them a warning letter. This will reflect the seriousness and strictness of the school. Therefore by doing this, students will dare not repeat their mistakes again. But if the students dare to repeat again, then I agree with the school’s action of letting the student to face suspension and being expelled.
I also agree to what Secretary-general R. Theyvendran has said. A certain amount of basic decency should be maintained. Otherwise, those who are serious about studying will be put off by these people. This is because those students who are serious about studying would be influenced by their friends and the surroundings, thus it will affect their studies and more students would dress inappropriately. Thus, the dress codes of the students would cause MDIS to give the public a bad impression about their study environment and as a result, many parents would not let their children to enrol in this school.
In conclusion, whether it is a private institute or not, proper dressing for the students is very important as after all, it is still a place for students to study and not to show off how “fashionable” they are.
By Yee Hong.
ReplyDeleteI think that MDIS imposed on banning mini-skirts, flip-flops, dyed hair etc is good for the image of students in Singapore. Infect, I think the government should impose new law to request students who are pursuing studies in Singapore to wear uniform to school.
Nowadays, beside primary, secondary schools and ITE, other institutions such as Polytechnics, Universities and private schools do not enforce such rules to force students to wear uniforms to school. At least schools should ban students who are in casual wear not to allow them to enter the facilities. This is because school is a facility where students get their knowledge from. It should have strict rules and regulations and students must obey the rules and not to offense the rules.
But since Polytechnics, Universities and private schools do not enforce such rules. It is good to let the institutions to follow MDIS method to ban mini-skirts and dyed hair etc to be allowed in the school. This is to let the students to have time to adapt the new rules before imposing of wearing uniform to school compulsory.
Hopefully the Ministry of Education of Singapore can do apart by enforcing all students to wear school uniform to school or at least ban casual wear to the institutions whose students do not wear uniform to schools. This is to build up the image of Singapore's institutions to the world that students in Singapore are serious in studying.