'17 million students, tens of millions of uniforms each year, where will they go?'

The issue of uniforms was raised by Pham Minh Trang, 18 years old, a first-year student at Fulbright University Vietnam at the Youth Discussion - Responsible Consumer Fashion (organized by B'Lao - Scavi - Corèle Group in Ho Chi Minh City on September 6). In the context of the 2025-2026 school year just beginning, the discussion attracted the attention of hundreds of teachers, students, and parents.

Uniform - choose personal memories, or good memories for the whole world ?

Pham Minh Trang, a former student of the literature class at the Gifted High School (Ho Chi Minh City National University), pointed to the screen showing Trang and her classmates smiling brightly in their white and blue uniform T-shirts with the letters "PTNK". Trang said that this was a source of pride and a beautiful memory of her and her friends' youth. The uniform color was a great motivation for them, helping them know who they were and what they were fighting for. However, when she entered university, Trang could no longer wear these uniforms every day. And this is not Trang's problem alone.

'17 triệu học sinh, hàng chục triệu bộ đồng phục mỗi năm, rồi sẽ đi đâu?' - Ảnh 1. — Pham Minh Trang shares a photo of her literature class in the uniform of the Gifted High School (Ho Chi Minh City National University)

'17 triệu học sinh, hàng chục triệu bộ đồng phục mỗi năm, rồi sẽ đi đâu?' - Ảnh 2. — Female student presents at the seminar

The page gives an example of the country having about 17 million high school students, each student buys 3-5 sets of uniforms/school year, so each year there are tens of millions of school uniforms produced each year. But the uniforms can only be worn for a few years (according to the students' schooling process). So when their life cycle ends, where will the uniforms go?

"Do you think that your uniforms will contribute to the 2.1 million tons of textile waste in Vietnam each year - the number given by the World Bank? I imagine a mountain of waste that will one day flow into the ocean, contributing to terrible things for the environment such as climate change, water pollution... I realize that our beautiful memories, preserving our important youth, are a source of danger to the green earth," Trang said.

The female student of Fulbright University Vietnam said that as people with capacity, knowledge, learning spirit, and connection spirit, young people like Trang not only want to learn but also want to experience, not only want to listen but also want to participate, not only want to do for themselves but also want to contribute to the world. Therefore, the female student proposed that schools and educational institutions need to teach students about responsible consumption and green living.

'17 triệu học sinh, hàng chục triệu bộ đồng phục mỗi năm, rồi sẽ đi đâu?' - Ảnh 3. — Students retain school memories in uniform

'17 triệu học sinh, hàng chục triệu bộ đồng phục mỗi năm, rồi sẽ đi đâu?' - Ảnh 4. — Do each person's "youth memories" contribute to the 2.1 million tons of textile waste in Vietnam?

Next, according to Trang, she hopes that businesses will expand internship opportunities for students, providing consumers with quality products. At the same time, she hopes that there will be policies so that even small initiatives of students can have the conditions to become real solutions.

"I want to ask a question: 'Will we choose to let uniforms and fashion items be just memories for each person, or will we choose to turn them into good memories for the whole world?'" Trang said.

School uniforms need to be beautiful, comfortable and "green"

At the seminar, Associate Professor - Dr. Bui Mai Huong, Head of Brand Management - Communications Department, University of Technology (Ho Chi Minh City National University), said she was very happy when the seminar showed that school uniforms are getting more attention, not only from the perspective of aesthetics and comfort but also the environmental aspect of the product.

From choosing raw materials, green and clean production processes, to consumer behavior, using good quality fashion that lasts longer, is more versatile, and releases less into the environment...

'17 triệu học sinh, hàng chục triệu bộ đồng phục mỗi năm, rồi sẽ đi đâu?' - Ảnh 5.

'17 triệu học sinh, hàng chục triệu bộ đồng phục mỗi năm, rồi sẽ đi đâu?' - Ảnh 6.

School uniforms today are concerned about design, material, price and environmental protection.

PHOTO: THUY HANG

'17 triệu học sinh, hàng chục triệu bộ đồng phục mỗi năm, rồi sẽ đi đâu?' - Ảnh 7. — Associate Professor - Dr. Bui Mai Huong discussed at the seminar

According to Associate Professor - Dr. Bui Mai Huong, school uniforms need to meet the criteria of being comfortable, beautiful, elegant, students like to wear them, and uniforms must also be responsible for the environment.

The discussion also included a discussion between Mr. Tran Van Phu, Chairman and Founder of B'Lao - Scavi - Corèle Group, and Xuan An, a 12th grader; Thuy Trang, a 7th grader, and Pham Minh Trang, a first-year student at Fulbright University Vietnam, on the issue of responsible fashion consumption.

'17 triệu học sinh, hàng chục triệu bộ đồng phục mỗi năm, rồi sẽ đi đâu?' - Ảnh 8. — Mr. Tran Van Phu talks with students about responsible fashion consumption

Here, students expressed their opinions about the uniforms they wanted, such as meeting aesthetic criteria, being comfortable and cool to wear, using environmentally friendly materials, and being durable. In particular, the uniforms must be affordable and suitable for most parents...

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/17-trieu-hoc-sinh-hang-chuc-trieu-bo-dong-phuc-moi-nam-roi-se-di-dau-185250906154004564.htm