https://www.engineeringnews.co.za
Africa|Building
Africa|Building
africa|building

Commission reiterates measures to lower school uniform costs

8th January 2020

By: Simone Liedtke

Creamer Media Social Media Editor & Senior Writer

     

Font size: - +

The Competition Commission is intensifying efforts to ensure the cost of school uniforms become “reasonable and affordable” for parents through an extensive advocacy targeted at parents, school governing bodies, retailers and schools.

In February last year, the commission signed agreements with several private schools following constructive engagements and cooperation by the schools, including Curro, Advtech and Reddam House.

School governing bodies – led by the Federation of Governing Bodies of South Africa, as well as the Independent Schools of Southern Africa – made a public pledge to adhere to the school uniform guidelines aimed at curbing anticompetitive behaviour.

The guidelines were intended to ensure that school uniforms are reasonably priced.

The commission on Wednesday said it continues to engage further with all stakeholders including private schools, suppliers, governing bodies and the government to ensure compliance with the guidelines, as well as adequate monitoring and oversight.

School uniform guidelines include that the school uniform should be as generic as possible such that it is obtainable from as many suppliers as possible, and that exclusivity should be limited to items that the schools regard as necessary to obtain from pre-selected suppliers, like badges.

Additionally, the commission said schools should endeavour to follow a competitive bidding process when appointing suppliers, adding that schools should appoint more than one supplier to give parents more options.

The concluded agreements should also be of limited duration.

The commission is interacting with various schools to assist with capacity building, while establishing and maintaining the necessary expertise to monitor and manage anticompetitive conduct with regard to school uniforms.

This includes the phasing out of exclusive agreements and evergreen contracts, and means that the process of introducing reasonable and affordable prices will be gradual in some instances.

Parents are also urged to continue to monitor anticompetitive conduct in schools and must insist on the governing bodies implementing the uniform guidelines.

“The success of the initiative to bring reasonable and affordable uniform depends largely on involved and active parents. If governing bodies manage schools on behalf of the parents, it cannot be that parents must bear the brunt of expensive prices,” the commission said in its statement.

In instances where there is noncompliance with the Competition Act, the commission indicated that it would take appropriate action, particularly as bringing down the cost of school uniform remains the priority.

Edited by Chanel de Bruyn
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor Online

Comments

Showroom

Weir Minerals Africa and Middle East
Weir Minerals Africa and Middle East

Weir Minerals Europe, Middle East and Africa is a global supplier of excellent minerals solutions, including pumps, valves, hydrocyclones,...

VISIT SHOWROOM 
Universal Storage Systems (SA)
Universal Storage Systems (SA)

South African leader in Steel -Racking, -Shelving, and -Mezzanine flooring. Universal has innovated an approach which encompasses conceptualising,...

VISIT SHOWROOM 

Latest Multimedia

sponsored by

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION







sq:0.085 0.138s - 176pq - 2rq
Subscribe Now