•If dress codes are necessary, there ought to be student participation in deciding, Kenya National Civil Society Centre says, calls for withdrawal.
• No exposing belly, naval or back, no slits above the knee no earrings for men, no dreadlocks or bare chests.
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Withdraw strict imposed dress codes and let students participate in deciding what is vulgar and distracting and what is appropriate, the Kenya National Civil Society Centre has said.
It directed its advice to the Kenya Methodist University (KeMU) and the University of Eldoret.
In a statement, KNCSE said if the authorities strongly feel that dress codes are necessary in the first place, student participation is needed.
In a memo by KeMU Dean of Students Dr Esther Mbaabu, young women were told not to wear tops exposing their belly, navel or backs while the skirts must be below the knee.
Dresses and blouses with necklines running down more than four inches, skin-tight trousers, those made of see-through fabrics, or hanging above the knee line, or whose slits are above the knee line are also inappropriate and, therefore, prohibited, she said
At the KeMU, male students are not supposed to have dreadlocks, plaited hair, earrings or walk around with their shirts untucked or exposing their chests.
University of Eldoret in a memo warned students of severe disciplinary action for wearing what the authorities termed "inappropriate clothes".
It banned mini-skirts. Males wearing ragged or ripped trousers will not access the institution’s lecture halls, library and other amenities.
“KNCSC’s concern is not so much about the introduction of dress codes per see as it is about the authoritarian manner in which the codes are being imposed on the affected learners," the rights group said.
"The authorities are also demanding blind obedience without any regard to the input and views of the students as required under Article 10 of the Constitution on public participation,” read the statement signed by KNCSC chief executive officer Suba Churchill.
“It is the submission of the KNCSC that the spate of dress codes is being imposed on learners in the pretext of moral and religious values in Kenya.
"Article 10 of the Constitution of Kenya spells out human dignity, equality, human rights, non-discrimination, protection of the marginalised, the rule of law, democracy and participation of the people among other National Values and Principles of Governance that bind all State organs, State officers, public officers,” Churchill said.
(Edited by V.Graham)