YES: Chris Keates, general secretary, NASUWT - Although teachers continue to have mixed views about uniforms, NASUWT has always maintained there are considerable benefits to adopting one. It helps to foster a sense of identity, it can be a great leveller, and it makes pupils easy to identify so has an evident safety benefit. It can have a positive impact for these reasons, but tackling indiscipline effectively is a complex process and school uniform will be only one of a large number of factors and would not be a panacea on its own.
YES: Lindsay Gilbert, head of schools programme, ChildLine - A uniform has the potential to improve discipline, by helping to create a common school identity, or disguise financial inequalities between pupils. However, uniform is not the be all and end all; schools need to make pupils truly feel like equal partners in the school community. It is far more important that children feel safe and valued and therefore uniform must be part of a package that creates an inclusive learning environment. Sometimes rules can be restrictive.
NO: Carolyne Willow, national co-ordinator, Children's Rights Alliance for England - This obsession with telling children what to wear is deeply unimaginative. Research carried out for the Department for Education and Skills has shown a positive link between student participation in decision-making and attainment, attendance and exclusion. This is the future for schools. Of course wearing smart clothes can help children to feel good about themselves, and foster social solidarity. But this is achievable without compulsory uniform.
YES: David Cameron, shadow education secretary - Without proper discipline, teachers cannot teach and children cannot learn. It is not one education issue among many; it is the essential requirement. And uniforms are often seen as the key to improving behaviour, both in the classroom and the wider community. However, discipline goes wider than just enforcing uniform. It is about excluding unruly pupils, and until the Government gives heads the final say over exclusions it will be hard, if not impossible, to take them seriously on this subject.
