Can wearing a uniform at school solve discipline problems or even reduce social inequalities? The experiment with the uniform was proposed by the majority as a solution, particularly to curb bullying at school, and was initially pushed forward by the Macron couple. When Gabriel Attal, the then Minister of Education, announced this at the beginning of September 2023, he quickly made his skepticism clear: “I’m not sure it’s a magic solution that solves all problems, but it’s worth trying.” he explained on September 4th on RTL.
In France, wearing a uniform was never practiced in public education, except in Napoleonic high schools. Nowadays it is used in some foreign and private institutions as well as military colleges. “As a student, I wore the uniform: a dark blue skirt and a dark blue sweater for fifteen years. And I experienced it well. This eliminates the differences and saves us time (…) and money “, stated Brigitte Macron in the columns of Parisianin January 2023. The then minister Pap Ndiaye, predecessor of Gabriel Attal, wanted nothing to do with it.
There is very little scientific work on the effects of school clothing that goes beyond individual experiments. “There are few studies of the uniform in France, simply because this use is not widespread except in the West Indiesemphasizes Michel Tondellier, sociologist and lecturer at the University of the Antilles and author ofSchool uniform in Martinique, questioning the evidence (L'Harmattan, 256 pages, 26 euros). The majority of the work is in English, which means that this debate revolves heavily around fantasies and memories, which from a scientific perspective are anecdotes. »
“We don’t give ourselves the means to do it”
The duration of the experiment, which researchers will conduct from the beginning of the 2024 school year for a “Generalization” The measure desired by the head of state from 2026 appears inadequate to him. “We do not give ourselves the opportunity to study the actual impact of the uniform”annoys Michel Tondellier.
In any case, there is no consensus about the effect of the uniform. The American researcher David Brunsma published statistically relevant results in 1998 The Journal of Educational Research. By controlling for other parameters (including social background), this study showed that there were no significant effects of uniform on academic outcomes, attendance, and behavioral problems over a ten-year period.
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