“Parents of children who attend state schools are being asked whether uniforms should remain as they are, be simplified or abolished completely.” (July 31). I have no doubt that when parents have had their say, the great majority will be in favour of retaining the school uniform. For a school uniform unifies the pupils, eliminates differences, draws a clear demarcation line between the time children spend in school and out of it, and is generally considered to be conducive to the maintenance of discipline. It is part of the whole ethos of the school. Moreover, the school uniform is ingrained in our culture.

The change started when over-enthusiastic heads and school councils started adding items to the basic uniform, a process set in motion, I believe, by the opening of Junior Lyceums in 1981, which, in a way, tried to emulate the established fee-paying Church and private schools. The situation was compounded by the introduction of the college system.

When the Education Minister mentioned a re-grouping of schools in colleges, the first preoccupation of parents was the added expense of having to provide the uniform for the new college to which their school would be moved.

The school uniform has become a financial burden for many families, but this is no reason for abolishing it altogether. Trim it down, remove the excesses, issue clear guidelines to school heads and school councils about what is acceptable, and give parents the liberty to buy their children’s uniform from the outlets they prefer. A school uniform need not mean complete uniformity in every single little detail.