BHUBANESWAR: The state government has changed the colour and design of uniforms for students of secondary schools by replacing white and green, the official colour of BJD, with light brown and maroon.
In a notification on Tuesday, the School and Mass Education department said the government has approved a change in colour and design of uniforms for Class 9 and 10 students of government and aided schools under the Mukhyamantri Chhatra Chhatri Paridhan Yojana.
The boys will wear checkered light brown shirts and maroon pants while girls will don checkered ‘kurta’ with maroon jacket and ‘salwar’. “The new design may be implemented in schools where uniforms in old design have not been stitched or distributed,” read the notification to the director of secondary education.
Students of elementary grades - Class 1 to 8 - will continue to wear light blue and white uniforms. Besides, no change has been made in the Saturday uniform which comprises T-shirts of blue, green, red and yellow colours and dark blue track pants.
The white and green uniforms for Class 9 and 10 students of government and aided schools were introduced by the previous BJD government for the first time last year. Boys and girls were provided with white and hunter green shirts in stripes. The boys’ collar and pants were also in hunter green and girls had green coloured blazer and pants.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, School and Mass Education minister Nityananda Gond said education and educational institutions are above politics. The previous BJD government had introduced green and white uniforms for secondary students and painted all the school buildings green.
“The choice of colour was questionable because it was the party’s colour. We (BJP) feel there should be no politicisation of education in any manner. Which is why we have decided to change the school uniform colour,” Gond said.
The minister further said the colour of school buildings will also be changed and the matter is currently under discussion. On public facilities including hospitals that were painted green by the previous government, Gond said if necessary, the colour of all such facilities will be changed in a phased manner.