Students Welcome New Policy on Training Uniforms amid COVID-19

SEOUL, June 1 (Korea Bizwire) — Following a phase-by-phase opening of the new school year since May 20, a number of changes at schools are coming as a pleasant surprise for students.

One of them is coming to school wearing training uniforms.

To minimize physical contact amid the raging coronavirus, many schools in their own discretion are allowing students to come to school wearing training uniforms.

Municipal educational authorities in Daejeon, Sejong, and South Chungcheong Province, for instance, decided on May 27 to allow all students to wear training uniforms to school on days when they have physical education classes.

The decision comes as schools want to avoid physical contact while students change into a different uniform in a confined space.

The students are welcoming the new decision because now they can wear training uniforms to school, which had been prohibited in the past.

“I wore my training uniform to school. My standard of living has just been upgraded,” a local student said in a social media post.

The students are happy with the new training uniform rule because normal school uniforms are uncomfortable.

Many school uniforms are made of stiff, inflexible material. For female students, school uniforms are especially uncomfortable since they have to wear stockings as well as underwear beneath a skirt, even in summer and winter.

While some schools have ‘working uniforms’ in place that are more comfortable to wear, paying extra money to buy them is difficult for some students.

“Training uniforms are designed for physical activities. That is why we have our students to wear them only during physical education classes,” said a local high school teacher.

Legally, schools have the discretion to choose their own school uniforms, which means that the school, students, and parents should be in consensus to change a school uniform.

Fortunately, a number of schools are stepping out to introduce comfortable school uniforms. Some schools for women, for instance, are allowing students to wear pants instead of skirts, and t-shirts instead of a blouse.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Ministry of Education introduced a new school uniform inspired by Hanbok, Korea’s traditional costume, designed to overcome gender stereotypes while maximizing durability and stretch.

H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)