- As schools prepare to reopen for a new school year, the topic of costly school uniforms is again emerging, a stressful point for parents who are already under immense financial strain.
- The Competition Commission said it is inundated each year with complaints from parents who are forced by schools to buy school uniforms from exclusively selected suppliers.
- The commission says it has embarked on an extensive advocacy and awareness drive against anti-competitive behaviour in the procurement of school uniforms.
As schools prepare to reopen for a new school year, the topic of costly school uniforms is again emerging, a stressful point for parents who are already under immense financial strain.
Taking into consideration costs at different schools, the Competition Commission (CC) said it is inundated each year with complaints from parents who are forced by schools to buy school uniforms from exclusively selected suppliers.
“There has been a widespread practice by many schools, which sign exclusive supply agreements with specific pre-selected suppliers of school uniform,” the CC pointed out. “These agreements are entered into without any transparent competitive bidding processes and, as a result, they substantially prevent and lessen competition. The parents are then forced to pay higher prices. The commission subsequently initiated an investigation into various schools and suppliers of school uniform.”
TygerBurger spoke to a parent, Lindsay Jacobs, whose child starts high school this year.
“When I look at the prices they are ridiculous. Tuition and extramural activity costs are still on the list. How do you budget for this?”
She said she had to spend a total of R8 700 for both her children, “that is, if the shoes last or the uniform/blazer does not get stolen or lost.”
One school in the Milnerton area says it uses second-hand clothing to help ease the financial burden on parents.
Guidelines
Broadly, the guidelines include the following:
- School uniforms should be as generic as possible, so it is obtainable from more than one supplier;
- Exclusivity should be limited to items the school regards as necessary, from pre-selected suppliers, such as badges and ties.
- Schools should follow a competitive bidding process when appointing suppliers for school uniforms and learning-related items; and
- Supplier agreements should be of limited duration and not for excessively long periods.
The commission says it has embarked on an extensive advocacy and awareness drive against anti-competitive behaviour in the procurement of school uniforms.
“It engaged key stakeholders in the basic education sector as part of this process.
“The commission assisted the department in drafting a circular on school uniform guidelines. Subsequently, the guidelines were adopted by various school groups and governing bodies. Many schools immediately started to implement the guidelines and identified items like school ties, blazers, caps and so on as part of limited exclusive clothing.”
Schools must comply with the following guidelines:
- School uniform should be as generic as possible so that it is obtainable from many suppliers.
- Schools should preferably appoint more than one supplier to give parents more options.
- Exclusivity should be limited to items that the school regards as necessary to get from preselected suppliers.
- Exclusive agreements concluded with suppliers should be of limited duration. Schools should follow a competitive bidding process when appointing exclusive suppliers.
