VietNamNet Bridge – Strict regulations on clothing and working style for students and lecturers at Cuu Long University has faced strong opposition.

The university released a decision on school culture and compulsory clothing for workers, lecturers and students, which addressed eight rules.

They cannot smoke or use alcoholic drinks. The drinks can only be used at special events with an agreement by the school’s leaders.

Commercial ads, access to “depraved websites”, “superstitious” activities, receptions and parties which affect the school environment are also banned.

Regarding clothing, the school prohibits clothing that shows a lot of cleavage. In addition, students and lecturers must not wear jeans, T-shirts or slippers to go to lecture halls.

Female students and lecturers have wear traditional dress on Monday and Friday, while male students and lecturers must wear western-style trousers and white shirts.

Vice President of the Cuu Long University Nguyen Cao Dat said the school environment will improve if lecturers and students wear elegant clothes and display correct behavior.

The story of Cuu Long school in the south has caught the special attention of students throughout the country.

Nguyen Lan Phuong, a student at Hanoi National University, commented that the requirement on clothing would be a burden on poor students, and that clothing does not determine education quality.

Vu Chi Mai from Hanoi National University, while agreeing that students and lecturers need to go to school in elegant and polite clothes, said there was no need to ask them to wear the traditional long dress, because this may make cause inconvenience during activities at school.

When the 2013-2014 academic year began, the headmaster of the Viet Trung Secondary and High School in Quang Binh Province, released a decision prohibiting female teachers from wearing skirts.

Le Van Ha, the headmaster, said the regulation would help students concentrate on learning and not be distracted during lessons.

Ha said a skirt of a teacher at the school blew upwards in the wind, which caused so much din in the classroom that the lesson could not continue. He said his decision was supported by the teachers of the school and parents.

“No one has complained about the inconvenience,” he said. “All the teachers in the school have been following the regulation.”

However, some female teachers denied that they agreed with the decision. “It was a made-up story that a teacher’s skirt blew upwards,” a teacher said. “This could not happen, because there are only ceiling fans in classrooms.”

The teacher said the rule made it more difficult for her because she was pregnant.

Meanwhile, when asked to comment about the ban, Doan Duc Liem, director of the Quang Binh provincial Education and Training Department, said attention should not be paid to such a matter.  

Dat Viet