One of the uniqueness of schools is uniformity. The idea is to make all students uniform and to be able to identify those who are students of the school and those who aren't. While in secondary school, government-owned precisely, we had this beautiful uniform and it was easy to identify the juniors from the seniors and also, from those who weren't bonafide students as this made it easier for the management to chase the non-students out except they are newcomers who are just starting school.
The colours of our school uniform are brown and cream coloured. While the junior put on a brown pinafore gown with the shape of an X around the chest to the neck area and the cream-coloured shirt worn inside, the seniors put on cream-coloured shirts and brown skirts tucked-in that reached below the knee. The seniors are easily recognised from the juniors with this idea of their uniform and that was the uniqueness it formed in my school.
The same is everywhere in all schools and it's hard not to see a school without their uniforms because how would you identify a student of a particular school from another without this identification? It's not possible. Every school have their own style and creativity in discovering the kind of uniform for its students and when you see a student in a uniform, you will easily identify which school he or she is from.
With the evolution of technology and the woke generation we have today, having to discard school uniforms would be the worst decision ever because it would mean having weeds among the wheat. It would be difficult to identify the real students from strangers and it would be a tough task asking each student one by one if they are part of the school, there would be a mixture eventually when some individuals would claim to be a part of the school too.
Let me cite an example of this notion to understand why it is not ideal for students to put on a mufti or without a uniform. I was teaching in the class yesterday (SS1) and a student walked in causing distraction. Having identified the student to be in SS2, I chased him out when he kept insisting he was in the same class. It took me a while to finally believe him when he kept insisting he was now in SS1 and transitioned from Jss3.
Now think about when all students aren't in uniform, it would cause teachers a lot of confusion in the classroom because not everyone would want to be in school or even class, some will be mixed up to cause distraction and influence other students from outside. Imagine having a bad influence from outside to come mixed up with the students in class with no purpose of focus but to disturb the serious students.
The school itself won't have the uniqueness and uniformity because the uniform is what makes it beautifully structured. Apart from the staff knowing themselves, how many students would the school identify they are theirs or not?
Students being in uniformity is the best and most creative idea. There shouldn't be a say in discarding such an idea because, in the end, some schools would have a shortage of students when some of them would want to move to other schools they have been eyeing but have no choice since their parents have the final say.
Forget about the use of attendance to record those who are present or absent, schools will always have newer members join in every day and these ones would be on and off every time because they are never part of the school system.
All images are mine