The Inkatha Freedom Party in KwaZulu-Natal calls on the KZN MEC of Education, Mthandeni Dlungwane to ensure that all schools adhere to uniform guidelines issued by the National Department of Basic Education after the reports that many schools are unaware of the guidelines for school uniforms issued by the Department of Basic Education in 2015.
“Also, here in KwaZulu-Natal the school uniform prices are high and in some places parents are forced to buy school uniform from certain stores. We believe that this investigation must be expedited because everyone must be able to afford school uniform including those who are poor.
Guidelines were made clear that school uniforms should be as generic as possible, and obtainable from as many suppliers as possible. Schools should follow a competitive bidding process when appointing suppliers, make use of more than one supplier to give parents options, and agreements with suppliers should be of a limited duration,” said IFP KZN Provincial Spokesperson on Education, Mrs Thembeni Madlopha-Mthethwa MPL.
“Many people depend on social grants but when you consider school uniform prices, they are more than the social grants that people receive. This results in too many children going to school without shoes because their parents can only manage to buy a few items for them. It also results in many children not going to school because they do not have school uniforms.
The Commission must find out who owns these stores that sell the clothes, especially at those schools where people are forced to buy the uniform from specified stores. This has a negative impact on people leaving in rural areas because they are forced to travel long distances to buy school uniforms in towns and cities where most of the school uniform is available. School uniforms must be available in stores closer to where people live,” continued Mrs Madlopha-Mthethwa.
Issued by:
Mrs Thembeni Madlopha-Mthethwa MPL
IFP KZN Provincial Spokesperson on Education
079 114 3015