The Education Ministry has suggested vocational students can either continue to wear a standardised uniform or their own clothes on campus as part of its efforts to end violence between rival technical colleges.
The idea was proposed at a meeting to solve inter-school brawling chaired by Education Minister Adm Narong Pipatanasai on Wednesday, Matichon Online reported.
Adm Narong said the meeting agreed that the cause of violence among vocational schools did not stem from personal conflicts but a matter of extreme school pride and a sense of belonging within their institutions.
The ministry is considering the proposal to order vocational students to either wear their own casual clothes to school or the same uniform, Adm Narong said.
It will also take more stringent action against any institute that is ordered temporarily closed after their students are involved in inter-school violence. If the violence is repeated, the college can be shut permanently.
Office of the Vocational Education Commission (Ovec) will invite executives of technical colleges at risk to talk and find a solution to the problem, Adm Narong said.
The two measures are among 16 released by the ministry over brawling among students.
Ovec secretary-general Chaiyapruak Sareerak said temporary or permanent closure would have to be handled carefully to protect the larger body of students.
Concerned officials will discuss the pros and cons of the students’ new dress code proposal and implement it immediately once a conclusion is reached, he said.