Although the uniform rule was made to lessen the class gap between students from different economic backgrounds, in many cases it has had the opposite effect.

Parents have difficulties in buying uniforms for children

Nguyen Thi Quynh Chi is a parent with children attending a primary school in Hanoi. She said, "It's not easy for us to buy school uniforms. They changed the design slightly this year and we had to pay for a new one, even though last years uniform still fit. To be honest, I'm not even satisfied with the look of the uniform. It doesn't look nice ad is inappropriate for the weather in summer."

Many other parents complained about the strict rules for uniforms this school year. One parent of a student attending Van Yen Primary School, in Ha Dong District, said, "The design of the uniform is exactly the same except for the name of the class, 1A is now 2A, so we have no choice but to buy a new shirt."

In HCM City, despite the large number of shops for uniforms, parents still had difficulties in buying school clothes because of logos. A student from Tran Khai Nguyen High School commented that they were worried about the school changing the uniform design, saying that, "If they change the design this year it might cost my parents VND100,000 (USD4.8) for a shirt."

A number of parents said that uniforms have to be tailored, and that the local shops follow the schools' designs, but use cheap fabric.

Recently, some schools even make children wear gym uniforms. "My kids have two gym classes per week, and they are made to wear gym uniforms all day because the school doesn't have dressing rooms. I don't thing this is hygienic. the fabric is not sweat absorbent, still they are made to wear them all day long," said one parent with a child attending Kim Lien Primary School.

On August 3, the Hanoi Department of Education and Training sent out new memorandums on regulations on dress codes for students and teachers. According to the new documents schools will need parents' consent before before changing dress codes. They were also advised to collect opinions of parents before creating tailoring and design standards for school dress.