KABALE – The Uganda National Teacher Education Institute (UNITE) is contemplating introducing uniforms for students following numerous complaints about inappropriate dressing by student teachers.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!This was revealed by UNITE Secretary Dr. Levi Kabagambe Bategeka during a dialogue at the UNITE Kabale Campus in Kabale Municipality, while responding to concerns raised by education stakeholders.
Dr. Kabagambe stated that the uniform proposal is currently under discussion at committee level and has received mixed reactions, with opponents arguing that enforcing uniforms on university students would be overly strict and draconian.
However, he pointed out that similar measures are being adopted by other academic institutions, such as the Law Development Centre (LDC), which enforces a strict, mandatory dress code for all students.
Kabagambe explained that under the LDC Bar Course Rules, male students are required to wear dark suits, long-sleeved collared shirts, ties, and formal leather shoes, while female students wear dark skirts or pantsuits paired with appropriate blouses.
CUE IN: KABAGAMBE ON DRESS CODE. ENG
His remarks came in response to concerns raised by Deborah Aturinda, Head of the Counselling and Guidance Department at Hornby High School, who decried the inappropriate attire worn by some student teachers during school practice.
“At National Teachers Colleges, we were trained never to come to lecture rooms wearing sleeveless blouses, long earrings, multicoloured hair, or skimpy skirts. But nowadays, you see student teachers coming to schools, and you wonder if the dress code rules still apply,” Aturinda said.
Aturinda’s concerns were echoed by Deputy Head Teacher Judith Atukunda of Kyogo Senior Secondary School, who called for stricter enforcement of the teacher code of conduct at training institutions to ensure compliance with the dress code.
CUE IN: DEBORAH AND JUDITH ON DRESS CODE. ENG
Professor James K. Tumwiine, Dean of Kabale University’s Medical School, also weighed in, urging lecturers not to wait for formal rules but to send away students who appear in lecture rooms with unkempt hair and beards.
“For example, my medical students know that they cannot touch patients when they have long beards. I don’t need anyone to tell me that unkempt hair and beards are signs of indiscipline,” he said while addressing the meeting at the UNITE Kabale Campus.
The Uganda National Institute for Teacher Education (UNITE) was officially created on July 5, 2024, via Statutory Instrument No. 53 under the Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions Act.
Headquartered at the former Shimoni Core Primary Teachers’ College in Kiira Municipality, it started operations as a multi-campus degree-awarding institution by converting major national teachers’ colleges into its branches.
UNITE integrated former National Teachers’ Colleges (such as Kaliro, Kabale, Mubende, Muni, and Unyama) to function directly as its active multi-campus network.
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