Let’s be honest, we’ve all seen year 13s walking around confidently, expressing themselves in their mufti, and have thought “I can’t wait until I’m in year 13, so I can express myself with my own clothing instead of wearing these uncomfortable uniforms”. Well Pakuranga College is trying to change that. On the 16th of September, at 4:01 pm, the school stated in an email that “Starting in 2025, all Year 13 students will wear the current senior school uniform instead of mufti.”

Their reason? They claim that our prized all-year-round mufti that we’ve been waiting for since year 9 is being removed to “create a stronger sense of school pride and unity” let me ask you this: Would you feel more proud to be a Pakuranga College student in YOUR own clothes that YOU get to pick out for YOURSELF? Or in a uniform that you are forced to wear by the school? In my opinion, there is nothing more prideful than having pride in yourself. Continuing to allow year 13s to wear their own clothes not only would let them express themselves, but it would also let them take pride in their fashion choices.

On the note of “unity”, I don’t think that there is anything MORE unifying than letting us truly express ourselves in what we wear. Uniforms make us all look the same. If anything, they ‘ununify’ us. While mufti embraces and promotes diversity, making us all look unique, and ACTUALLY unify us through the means of self expression, unlike uniforms.

The other reason for this change is stated in the email, it reads “We’ve had a few situations where people who aren’t students have come onto our campus, and having everyone in uniform will make it easier to spot any potential issues.” Do we as students deserve to be punished for the acts of a few other students? OF COURSE NOT! Maybe instead of taking away mufti, the school should look into other ways of solving this issues rather than just choosing the most convenient one for them.

It is up to us as students to protest against the removal of year 13 mufti in any way we can. We need to work together to ensure that our mufti is not robbed from us.

#keepyear13mufti