irrespective and preposition "of", "whether" and addnl "or not"

[Jaggers]

irrespective and preposition "of", "whether" and addnl "or not"

Is the following grammatically correct?

"The headmaster imposed a strict policy on students wearing a specified uniform, irrespective whether the students' parents could afford the uniforms."

Should "irrespective" always take the preposition "of"?

Should "whether" always take the additional "or not" or can that be taken for granted?

Would the following be better?

"The headmaster imposed a strict policy on students wearing a specified uniform, irrespective of whether or not the students' parents could afford the uniforms."

 

[Rover_KE]

Re: irrespective and preposition "of", "whether" and addnl "or not"

Your amendment is better. It needs a full stop to be grammatically correct.

Rover

 

[MikeNewYork]

Re: irrespective and preposition "of", "whether" and addnl "or not"

The preposition is "irrespective of", so the "of" part is needed. In most cases, the "or not" that commonly follows "whether" is unnecessary. In your example, the clause introduced by "whether" is the object of a preposition. In that case, the "or not" is unnecessary.
See more here: Whether (or Not) - NYTimes.com