by TRACY MOORE

ANY DEVIATION from a new standardised dress code for high school students will be met with punishment, whether it be corporal, suspension or otherwise!

That's according to president of the Barbados Association of Principals of Public Secondary Schools (BAPPSS), Jeff Broomes, who was speaking yesterday at the launch of the new standardised dress code at the Barbados Union of Teachers' (BUT) headquarters, Merryhill, St Michael.

Some of the new rules include:

the hems of junior (school) girls' overalls MUST be 2 inches below the knee and the overalls MUST not be tight;

senior girls' skirts MUST be worn at the waist, MUST extend at least 2 inches below the knee and MUST not be tight;

hairstyles MUST be simple, tidy, neat and unobtrusive (must not block the view of other students during lessons); and

all male students MUST wear their pants at the waist; they cannot be oversize or baggy or tight around the ankle.

In addition, in at least one school, hair weaves or extensions will be banned for female students.

Broomes said: "We have gone through the process now where we have gone through a number of standards. You will find that these (rules) are not exhaustive. These are the bare minimum standards that we will accept.

"There are going to be some that are not mentioned here that will be seen in rules of specific schools that are tighter than some of these," he said.

Ban on scarves

Garrison School principal Matthew Farley explained that scarves were also banned at all secondary schools because they were used as disguises when bullying, vandalising, gambling and as gang colours.

In addressing students, principals, uniform suppliers, and the media, Farley also appealed to parents to support the new standardised code and called for the reformation of a national parent-teacher association (PTA).

"For about ten years now, there was a void in home-school relations because of the absence of a national PTA," he said.

"If that body was in existence now, we would have a major mechanism where we could communicate, and who would be on board with us in this particular venture," Farley said.

He also called on secondary school teachers to dress "professionally and appropriately" to set an example, while beseeching Barbadians "to speak to school children on the street so that this initiative becomes the business of the entire society".

tracymoore@nationnews.com