As with anything here in SG, it always takes crap hitting the fan
before rules & policies gets a re-look...
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SPOTLIGHT ON SCHOOL RULES
Should schools be more flexible?
Students and parents complain about 'unreasonable' school rules;
schools say they make exceptions
By Veena Bharawani
January 28, 2007
ARE our schools too sticky over rules?
Letting one's school shirt hang out, as shown in this file
photograph, is not allowed by some schools, even outside school
premises.
Are they too strict in enforcing the rules, so much so that they
are blinded to anything else, including genuine cases which cry out
for an exception?
Yes, say some parents and students we spoke to.
No, the rules are there for a reason, says one secondary school
head.
And besides, we're open to other views, including students'.
These responses came in the wake of our report yesterday about a
Eurasian student embroiled in a controversy over her hair. (See
report below.)
Respondents cited hair rules as one example of how schools
sometimes get carried away.
Said Ms Liane Christie, 43, who has a daughter in Sec 1 in an
all-girls school in the East: 'I attended this school as a kid and
we were allowed to use blue, black and white hair
accessories.
'Now, my daughter who attends this school can only use black
accessories. There's no logical explanation for it.'
She added: 'Girls are not allowed to use gel on their hair. I
understand that it is to prevent girls from spiking up their
hair.
'But my daughter once wanted to use it to neaten up her hair for an
exam, as her hair is a bit layered. She managed to get away with
it, but these are the rules that I don't understand.
'It just takes the focus away from educating the child.'
TOO SHORT TO TIE
Other parents shared similar grouses over 'strange' school
rules.
One, who declined to give her name and has two daughters in an
all-girls school (one in P5 and one in P3), said: 'The school has a
rule where if your hair touches the collar, you will have to tie it
up or cut it.
'My daughters have hair just above their collars, (but) they can't
tie it when it hits the collar as it's too short.
'So it means that we have to visit the hairdresser frequently to
cut their hair. Why do they have to be so strict about this?'
Parent Carol Sng, a private tutor, agrees: 'I sometimes see girls
with hair just below the collar who have to tie up their hair. It
looks very strange.'
Methodist Girls School's vice-principal Yap Tsui Lan said that
while the basic schools rules are there for every one to follow,
they are open to students' views on certain cases.
Explaining the collar rule, she said: 'If the students' hair is too
long, it will fly all over their face and distract them. Schools
had to come up with a reasonable length and so that's how the the
collar rule came about.
'If hair just touches the collar, then they can bunch it up into a
small ponytail and wait until it grows longer, as many of our girls
have done.'
Added Mrs Yap: 'We have a number of Eurasian students in the school
who have natural light brown hair and they come and explain this to
us and we are fine with it.
'But if it's outlandish hairstyles or dyed hair like purple or
green, of course this is disallowed.'
Generally, schools don't let students have boy-cuts or unfeminine
spiky or punkish hairstyles. The New Paper understands that this is
to encourage lady-like behaviour in schools.
Other teachers say that being strict about rules helps students
know where their boundaries are.
A teacher, who only wants to be known as Madam N Ram, 30, said: 'I
have primary school boys dyeing their hair, sometimes with their
parents' blessing.
'We have to be strict when it comes to school rules or not they
will take advantage of the whole situation.'
