SCHOOL UNIFORM AND THE PERCEPTIONS ON ITS UNIFICATION IN NIGERIA

Abstract

The study examined stakeholders' perception of the initiative to unify all school uniforms in Osun state, Nigeria. It determined the unification effects; differentiated school attendance in pre-unification and post-unification periods. A descriptive survey research design was adopted. The population consisted of all residents of Osun State, Nigeria from varied works, age and social status. Multi staged sampling technique was adopted to select two cities from the state using a convenient sampling technique and 50 respondents from each of the cities using a random sampling technique to field the Likert-scaled, self-developed and validated
questionnaire named Perceptions of School Uniform in Osun State (POSU)'. The study found stakeholders' perception of unified school uniform policy closing gaps between the rich and poor; conscripts' freedom of choice, encourage conflict and, demean governments' interest in education. It also found overt effects of unification including unique identity for public schools, encouraging truancy and difficulty in tracing mischievous learners. The differentiated school attendance in pre and post-unification periods dropped from 90 to 66.5 percent in aggregate of enrollees to attendees. The study concludes that stakeholders and school attendees preferred the varieties in school uniforms existing prior to unification. It recommends a return to statuesque.