Give students a say in the miniskirt debate – after all, they are the wearers

By Kilemi Mwiria

I believe in decent dressing for schoolgirls. Even though I am not qualified to prescribe the length of the skirt they should wear, I also believe that Minister Mutula did not intend to offend Catholic sisters, but was merely confirming what we all know; that girls and nuns dress differently. The problem may be how he said it and where.

Nuns’ dress code does not make them less decent than other women; their mode of dress is a style like any other, and actually, many look very good in it. Having grown up in a Catholic environment, I greatly admired this mode of dress that made nuns appear angelic.

I wonder if promiscuity has anything to do with length of a skirt or if it is a manifestation of the animal instinct in us.

Why is it that some people cannot help but swallow saliva after confronting a woman who is dressed scantily?

Lack of self-control is the problem, not the mode of dress. It is because of self-control that boys and girls mingle freely in swimming pools, beaches and at sporting events in attires much scantier than miniskirts. And there are cultures, even here in Kenya, where women walk bare breasted without being bothered.

 Meanwhile, the long bulky western Africa type dresses do not guarantee less promiscuity as evidenced by the now very popular Nigerian movies. Neither is the Islamic bui bui guarantee of moral purity.

Note that parents, who would rather have their children wear very long skirts at school, are not prepared to instill similar discipline on the same children at their homes during the holidays.

Some do not lead by example going by what they wear age notwithstanding. Nor is immorality absent in sectors of society that are advocating for long dresses for women.

What’s more, it is not because girls are scantily dressed that they are routinely sexually harassed by sugar daddies.

It is also because some girls are lacking in discipline that they make themselves available to sex pets, irrespective of the length of their dresses.

That is why; we should be addressing the matter of declining morality outside the school and the weakening of institutions and legal instruments that could make rape and promiscuity in general less prevalent.  If families, education providers and religious organisations strengthened their moral standing in the eyes of the public, including schools, girls are less likely to engage in immoral behavior, irrespective of skirt length. Our girls have the right to decent expression as long as that expression does not infringe on the rights of others.

It must be possible to come up with a skirt that is neither too long nor too short; one that our schools girls will find comfortable yet stylish.

I think it is time we had one standard school uniform for all our schools as they do is some countries such as Thailand.

This would make the different dress requirements unnecessary and school uniforms less expensive for parents.

In arriving at such a decision, students should be allowed to have a say. After all, it is they who will wear it.

The writer is MP for Tigania West and Assistant Minister Higher Education, Science and Technology