No school uniforms comeback in Austria, says minister

Austrian Social democratic (SPÖ) Education Minister Claudia Schmied has ruled out a reintroduction of school uniforms following a heated debate over the issue by German decision-makers.Schmied said today (Fri) there were no plans whatsoever to enforce students to wear unified clothing at schools across Austria.Former Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) Justice Minister Brigitte Zypries recently teamed up with Katherina Reiche, an MP from the ruling Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) to call for a comeback of school uniforms.The politicians claim such a step would reduce the number of mobbing incidents among teenagers over their outfits.Studies have revealed around one in two German students would appreciate the introduction of school uniforms at public schools.Teachers’ unions in Germany however oppose such plans, fearing that bullies would simply move on to focus on goods such as mobile phones or expensive shoes.