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Johnathan Paoli
The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has called for the immediate reform of the country’s school uniform and appearance policies and recommended the abolishment of prescribed underwear for girls, as well as removing any hair policies that differentiate between male and female pupils.
The commission briefed the Basic Education portfolio committee on Tuesday following its inquiry into school uniforms and the over-regulating of appearances and told Parliament that it noted an increase in reports of alleged over-regulation of the school uniform and appearances of learners.
The commission launched an investigation and held an inquiry in Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape before presenting its findings to the committee, with the province’s head Dr Eileen Carter saying the complaints highlighted bias rooted in Eurocentric norms and that natural hairstyles should never be considered an offence.
“We are calling on the national department to immediately abolish any hair policies differentiating between male and female learners eliminating these discriminatory practices related to afros, braids or natural hairstyles chosen by specific learners,” Carter said.
Carter said that in terms of school uniforms they found that in certain circumstances school uniform and appearance policies infringed on a learner’s right to dignity through the enforcing of binary uniform policies.
The SAHRC raised concerns about the financial burden of school uniforms on families. While the DBE cannot directly cap uniform prices (as that falls under the Competition Commission’s domain), it is open to reviewing the necessity of different summer and winter uniforms, as well as special uniforms for grade 12 learners in some cases.
The SAHRC also highlighted issues related to the “over-regulation” of appearances at schools. This includes rules around hair, especially where certain racial, gender, and cultural groups are disproportionately affected.
The DBE acknowledged that learner appearance guidelines need to be updated and revised to respect students’ rights and said that it was working on guidelines for the socio-educational inclusion of diverse sexual orientation, gender identity, expression, and sex characteristics (SOGIESC) in schools, which will address uniform-related matters
In 2021, the Competition Tribunal ruled against exclusive deals and anti-competitive practices related to school uniforms. Schools can no longer compel parents to buy uniforms from a specific supplier, and uniforms should be as generic as possible, obtainable from multiple suppliers
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