Abstract

This study investigated stakeholders' perceptions of single-type uniform practice in Osun State and found a significant difference in their perceptions. It was also determined if teachers’ years of experience would not influence their perception of the use of single-type uniforms. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. The population for this study comprised 184,075 public secondary school students and 13,631 teachers in Osun State. A sample of 1,200 students and 120 teachers was selected using a multi-stage sampling procedure. One local government area was selected from each of the senatorial districts using the simple random sampling technique. Data were collected using the Students’ Perception of Single-Type Uniform Questionnaire, Teachers’ Perception of Single-type Uniform Questionnaire and Perception of Single-type Uniform Interview Guide. Data collected were analysed using frequency counts, t-tests, and Chi-square at a 0.05 level of significance. The qualitative data was analysed using content analysis. The results indicated that about half of the students (591; 50.7%) had a negative perception of single-type uniforms, while (574; 49.3%) had a positive perception of single-type uniforms. Also, the results showed that the majority of the teachers (69; 61.1%) have a negative perception of single-type uniforms, while 44 (38.9%) had a positive perception of single-type uniforms. There was a significant difference between the students and teachers’ perceptions of using single-type uniforms (t-value = -6.377, p < 0.05).There is no significant influence of teachers’ years of experience on their perception of the use of single-type uniforms (ᵡ2= 1.442, p> 0.05). The study concluded that both the students and teachers had a negative perception of the use of single-type uniforms in Osun State public schools and thus should be discontinued.