School skirts rise in South Korea

The Education Board and the Teachers' Federation debate what to do with rising school skirts in South Korea.

As hemlines increase in Korean classrooms, so does the cost in accommodating them. Gangwon's Board of Education says it plans to fit boards to the front of 50,000 desks this year to "help students sit more comfortably in class." The local assembly will soon vote on whether to approve funding for the desk reburshment. The move to add front boards to desks will cost around $700,000.

In one survey, school hemlines have reportedly risen 10-15cm (4-6 inches) in the last decade. It is this rise that is making people uncomfortable about seeing too much leg.

Teachers support the plan to place "modesty" boards on school desks to prevent unacceptable views and to "avoid misunderstandings."

Hower, the Teachers' Federation is against the refurbishment of desks. It condemns the plan as a waste of money. The Federation announced that the situation would be easily, and cheaply, resolved by enforcing the rules on the length of school uniforms.

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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