Dozens of students at Phan Huy Chu High School in Hanoi were banned from classes on February 16 just because of their hair colour. The students were penalised and forced to do cleaning work instead.

 Phan Huy Chu High School

The headmaster of the school, Nguyen Thi Nhiep, told DTiNews on February 17 the school had strict regulations including on hair colour.

"This regulations were agreed a long time ago, and the Parents’ Association agreed with them," the headmaster said. "We had reminded our students before the Tet Holiday about it. On the first school day after Tet, February 15, 75 students returned to class with new hair colours and we warned them. 26 of them who decided to keep that colour were not allowed to attend class the next day."

The bans on coloured hair, nail varnish, makeup and jewellery for pupils is actually introduced by the Ministry of Education and Training and are widely followed by schools. Many students however don’t like the regulations.

Luong The Vinh was one of the first schools to introduce the regulations. According to the school's headmaster, Van Nhu Cuong, these regulations supposedly make the students focus more on their education.

"Teenagers tend to care a lot about their appearance," Cuong explains. "They might spend too much time on choosing their hairstyle or make-up. So as well as wearing uniform, they are asked not to dye hair and put on make-up when going to class. Then they will have more time for studying instead,” Cuong suggested.

The veteran teacher also said that the rules will help eliminate discrimination between students from wealthy and poor families.

Headmaster of Vietnam-Germany High School, Nguyen Quoc Binh, also said the regulations were necessary in schools where students should only care about studying and other meaningful activities.

"Schools in some other countries in the region including Singapore and Japan also have strict rules on students' dressing," Binh claimed.

"They can wear whatever they like outside school, but inside schools we have our own discipline and they have to follow the rules. This is also a lesson for them," the disciplinarian added.

Dtinews