Students vs. compulsory school uniforms
Romanian students in pre-university education are expressing their dissatisfaction after a bill requiring school uniforms was approved by the Senate, acting as the first chamber to consider the legislation.
Florentin Căpitănescu, 29.09.2026, 13:50
Many students in Romania’s pre-university education attended classes dressed in black as a form of protest against a bill that would make school uniforms compulsory. The students adopted this form of protest after the Senate, acting as the first chamber to consider the bill, passed a controversial piece of legislation last week that would amend the pre-university education law and require students to attend school in uniform. At present, school uniforms are not compulsory nationwide. Individual schools can decide whether to introduce them through their own regulations and decisions taken by school management.
If the bill is approved by Parliament, each school would be expected to establish its own uniform, as the legislation does not provide for a single national uniform. The design, technical standards and individual components would be determined by the governing board of each school after consultation with the parents’ association. Students have expressed dissatisfaction, saying they were not consulted and arguing that they have the right to express their views and take part in decisions that affect them. They say they do not oppose a decent standard of dress at school, but believe compulsory uniforms would not solve the problem of bullying, as argued by the bill’s initiators.
Mihnea Haiduc, president of the National Students’ Council: “Social differences do not disappear when students wear the same color shirts. They can easily shift to phones, footwear, school bags or the way students present themselves online. We do not believe bullying happens because students wear different clothes. It happens where schools lack prevention mechanisms, where counselling is inadequate, where teachers are not supported in managing conflicts and, most importantly, where students do not feel safe talking about what is happening to them.”
The bill’s initiators, however, argue that socio-economic differences between students are becoming increasingly visible, including through clothing, and that these differences can contribute to social exclusion, psychological pressure and bullying linked to a family’s financial circumstances. They argue that standardized clothing would make material differences between students less visible and reduce competition based on designer clothes or expensive fashion trends.
The bill cites France, where the introduction of a single uniform has been tested in certain schools, and the United Kingdom, where schools have policies covering uniforms and their cost. For the bill to become law, it must also be approved by the Chamber of Deputies, which is the decision-making chamber. (EE)
