VietNamNet Bridge – High schools prohibit students going to school in figure hugging clothes or with flashy makeup. Meanwhile, students believe that wearing fashionable clothes is “a part of the life.”


Schoolgirls spend a lot of money on clothes and beauty salon




The conflict

A lot of interviewed schoolgirls said that they cannot go to school in mediocre suits, and that they need beautiful clothes and makeup to become outstanding and self-confident among the friends.

Hoa, a student of the Hoang Dieu High School in Dong Da district in Hanoi she always takes care about her appearance when she goes out.

“I spend three hours a day to make up in the morning, afternoon and before going to bed,” Hoa said, adding that she has to spend 3 million dong a month “to protect her beauty.”

Hien Anh, a student of the Ha Dong High School In Ha Dong district, said she has a collection or perfume, shoes and handbags with the number of products big enough for her to change her style every day.

Anh admitted that since she has too many choices, she always has to spend hours every morning to think about what suits and what perfume she should wear and how she should match the suits with the handbags.

“This would still much depend on the weather on the day and my feelings as well,” she said.

The students like Anh and Hoa still go to school in fashionable clothes, though they know that they need to wear uniform and should not be too showy.

Deputy Headmaster of the Hoang Cau High School in Dong Da district Nguyen Thi Lan Phuong said she sometimes discovers the male students with too short hair and female students with colored hair.

Phuong has also noted that female students are not satisfactory with the uniforms provided by the school. They try to change the trouser legs to make them more hugging to the bodies, because they believe that loose trousers are not suitable to modern students, and they prefer drainpipes.

Phuong said she always requests teachers to give advice to students and talk to them about the style and appearance student should show when they are at school.

Meanwhile, Headmaster of the Dinh Tien Hoang High School in Hanoi Nguyen Tung Lam, said in case teachers discover someone who does not follow the school’s regulation, they would ask students to stay off from school for one or two days, when parents can spend time to help their children practice the necessary students’ manners.

Teachers have to… make compromise

However, Lam, when affirming that students need to follow the school’s regulations in their manners, said that the school has been “flexible” in implementing the regulations.

He said that the uniform trousers have loosened legs, but the school would not punish the students who have little tighter trouser legs.

He also said that the school does not require students to wear uniform at extracurricular activities or private tutoring lessons, because this may make students feel uncomfortable.

In general, female students have their hair dyed to prepare for the traditional Tet celebration. Therefore, the schools’ leaders said they would not punish the students who come back to school after the long Tet holiday with dyed hair or flashy makeup.

“I know they (the students) have to spend millions of dong to have hair dyed, because they want to go out in the best appearance on Tet days. If we are determined to force students to change their styles immediately,, they may make bad reactions,” Phuong said.

Nguyen Hien