HBC has not yet done much workmon African school uniforms. Generally speaking they have followed European styles. HBC does not know of any country where there are school uniforms based on indigenous tribal fashions. Some North African countries have adopted French or Italian smocks. In Sub-Saharan Africa, French and British school uniform styles have been important. The poverty of many African countries has meant many families can not afford school uniform. Uniforms are most prevalent in the more prosperous urban areas. Some secondary-age boys in recent years have objected to wearing short pants uniforms. Hopefully some African readers will help us build the HBC African school pages, but we note that there are very few HBC viewers from African countries.
HBC does not yet have detailed information on Algerian school uniforms. Most of our informaion on Algeria comes from the colonial era. France was the colonial powe and Algerians fought a long and brutal war during the 1950s and early 60s, at times looking more like a civil war, to achieve independemce. We have acquited some images from European schools that existed in the country before independence. The school uniform styles reflect the clothing worn by conmtemporary European boys. We believe at one time smocks were widely worn in Algerian schools, but have few details on modern Algerian schools.
The Democratic Republic of Congo was a Belgian colony until 1960. The Belgian Congo covered an emense area of central Africa. Ling Leopold administered the colony as his own private fiefdom
and terrible attrocities were committed by the Belgians during his reign. Belgium granted the country independence (1960), but had not prepared it for independence. While mineral rich, the country has drifted back and forth between turbulance, cuvil war and dicttatorial rule. The country changed its name to Zaire (1971-1997). Belgiam left a basic educational system, but much of it has deteriorated.
|
We have only limited information at this time on school uniforms in Kenya. A HBC reader writes, "While watching BBC-TV yesterday, I saw a program on the Starehe Boys School in Kenya. Since there's nothing about Kenya on HBC, I thought I'd sent this along. The Starehe Boys School in Nairobi is Kenya's most prestigious private boys secondary school, with an enrollment of 1,100 boys up to age 19. Over 15,000 applications for admission are received each year. Many boys from poorer families are able to attend on scholarships. All boys wear the school uniform of salmon color shirt, school tie and navy blue blazer, medium blue short pants, and grey kneesocks with striped tops. On warmer days, the boys doff their blazers and attend class in hortsleeves. The only exception made to the school uniform is for the "prefects", a few upperclassmen selected as student leaders, who are permitted to wear adult-style suits with long trousers."
Malwaian school uniforms show a strong British influence, at least in urban areas. Primary boys in state schools now mostly wear cotton drill bush shirt and shorts, in either grey or khaki. Colors are more varied at private schools Secondary boys also used to wear shorts, but long pants are now increasingly common.
HBC does not yet have detailed information on Moroccan school uniforms. We have acquited some images from European schools that existed in the country before independence. The school uniform styles reflect the clothing worn by conmtemporary European boys.
Nigeria is the African country with the largest population. It is a former British colony. The country is divided between an Islamic north and Christian south. We have no informatuion, however, on Nigerian schools at this time. We believe that the British influence from the colonial era is more pronounced in the Christian south than the Islamic north.
Rwanda is a central African country. It was part of the Belgian colony of Ruwanda-Urundi which was situated east of the vast Belgian Congo. Much of the country is situated on a high plateau. It has a largely agricultural economy. There is also cattle raising and some mining. Belgium granted limited independence in 1961 and full independence was achieved in 1962. We have very limited information on the school system.
|
South Africa like many former British colonies (Australia and New Zealand) has had uniforms based on traditional English styles. A school uniform consisting of a blazer, school tie, and dress pants which has been worn by boys in many countries, especially
English-speaking countries. This uniform evolved in England during the late 19th century and spread to the English colonies which at the time spanned the globe. South Africa of course was one of those countries. South African schools, despite the widely different
climate tended to follow the British syles very closely until the 1960s when they begun to develop their own distinctive styles and standards. Schoolwear was of course affected by overall South African boys' clothing trends. South Africa has British style uniforms for the winter term. The elementary winter uniform often includes short pants and knee socks. Many schools have and a simple summer uniform of grey shirt and shorts for the summer.
We have only limited information on Tunisia at this time. As is common for the Middle East and North Africa, we have been able to find some information about European colonial schools, but little information about Tunisian post-independence schools. We do not fully understand this dichotomy at this time. Tunisia was a French colony. One reader has mentioned the Menzel-Bourguiba school at Ferryville. We do not know much about the school, but the younger boys had a romper uniform.
Zimbanwe is one of the former British colonies in southern Africa. It was formerly known as Southern Rhodesia. Like many of these countries, school uniform and dress trends show yhis British heritage. Elementary school children in Zimbabwe commonly wear uniforms. At one representative school in the 1990s the girls wore blue dresses with large Peter Pan collars and the boys wore khaki open collar shirts and short pants. We believe that this is also the case in secondary schools. We still have very limited information on the country. Zimbabwe's spiral into disorder and poverty in recent years has undoubtedly affected the ability of parents to afford school uniforms.
Related Chronolgy Pages in the Boys' Historical Web Site
[The 1880s]
[The 1930s]
[The 1940s]
[The 1930s]
[The 1940s]
[The 1950s]
[The 1960s]
[The 1970s]
[The 1980s]
Related Style Pages in the Boys' Historical Web Site
[Long pants suits]
[Short pants suits]
[Socks]
[Eton suits]
[Jacket and trousers]
[Blazer]
[School sandals]
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Page
[Return to Main national school uniform page]
[Return to Main school uniform page]
[Introduction]
[Activities]
[Biographies]
[Chronology]
[Clothing styles]
[Countries]
[Bibliographies]
[Contributions]
[Essays]
[FAQs]
[Glossaries]
[Images]
[Links]
[Registration]
[Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]
