Ruling on school uniforms a relief

As schools reopen, the Competition Tribunal's ruling that schools can no longer force parents to buy their children's uniform at a specific supplier has once again come into sharp focus.

The ruling, which sought to break monopoly and increase competition and ensure cheaper prices, has been hailed as a huge victory for poor parents and small businesses. It followed an investigation into several schools and school uniform manufacturers and suppliers for possible contraventions of the Competition Act. 

The investigation found that exclusive supply agreements of a long duration allowed school uniform suppliers to charge parents higher prices and prevent other potential suppliers from entering the market. 

We fully support the move to ensure that uniforms remains as affordable as possible in every school. We know that a high number of families are in financial distress owing to the impact of Covid-19 pandemic, therefore any move that could reduce the burden of cost of uniforms would be a welcome relief.

School uniform remains one of the biggest cost pressures for parents during this time and any efforts, including those of the Competition Commission to remind school governing bodies, parents and schools of the guidelines to address expenses incurred due to limitations in purchasing school uniforms, are commendable.

However, these guidelines alone without monitoring and strict enforcement of compliance with the tribunal ruling by the authorities will not go a long way. The real benefit to the hard-pressed parents will be ensuring that they have access to cheaper options where they can buy uniform to kit out their children for school without breaking the bank.

This issue has gone on for far too long and it cuts particularly hard now that the cost of living is skyrocketing.  Too many parents continue to pay hefty prices and even incur debt to buy uniform which should be a leveller and a basic need.