Schools are going against an instruction by the Department of Basic Education by entering into exclusive agreements with school uniform suppliers.
This was one of the findings of a survey conducted by the Competition Commission, which is investigating alleged anti-competitive behaviour in the supply of uniforms to schools.
The commission sampled 1595 schools, 287 school governing bodies and 414 parents, and found that a third of private schools and former Model C schools sampled indicated having exclusive school uniform deals with uniform suppliers.
From those with exclusive uniform deals, 87% of private schools and 53% of former Model C schools have one supplier.
In a circular issued on May 15 2015, the department instructed schools that uniforms have to be "as generic as possible", and be made available at more than one supplier to allow parents more options.
The circular also called for schools to follow a bidding process when appointing school uniform suppliers and for the agreements to be of limited duration.
However, the commission found that a large number of schools said they were not familiar with the circular and some even continued to enter into exclusive contracts as recently as last year.
Spokesman of the Department of Basic Education Elijah Mhlanga said it was impossible that schools would be unaware of circulars.
"If a person in a school claims they were not aware of the circular it doesn't mean the circular never reached them," Mhlanga said.
"It must be noted that some schools collaborate with some of the suppliers that provide certain goods and services and it was mischievous for schools to claim to be unfamiliar with the instruction in the circular about school uniforms."
He said issuing a circular was "the oldest mode of communication in the education system".
Exclusive agreements with uniform suppliers often left parents without alternatives for purchasing uniforms and they were forced to pay any price demanded by the suppliers.
The Competition Commission's spokesman Sipho Ngwema said the survey assisted a great deal in directing their investigation where it needed to focus as they needed to understand how widespread the problem was. He said the investigation was most likely to be concluded in a month or two.
Schools ignore uniforms order
Image: Veli Nhlapo
Schools are going against an instruction by the Department of Basic Education by entering into exclusive agreements with school uniform suppliers.
This was one of the findings of a survey conducted by the Competition Commission, which is investigating alleged anti-competitive behaviour in the supply of uniforms to schools.
The commission sampled 1595 schools, 287 school governing bodies and 414 parents, and found that a third of private schools and former Model C schools sampled indicated having exclusive school uniform deals with uniform suppliers.
From those with exclusive uniform deals, 87% of private schools and 53% of former Model C schools have one supplier.
In a circular issued on May 15 2015, the department instructed schools that uniforms have to be "as generic as possible", and be made available at more than one supplier to allow parents more options.
The circular also called for schools to follow a bidding process when appointing school uniform suppliers and for the agreements to be of limited duration.
However, the commission found that a large number of schools said they were not familiar with the circular and some even continued to enter into exclusive contracts as recently as last year.
Spokesman of the Department of Basic Education Elijah Mhlanga said it was impossible that schools would be unaware of circulars.
"If a person in a school claims they were not aware of the circular it doesn't mean the circular never reached them," Mhlanga said.
"It must be noted that some schools collaborate with some of the suppliers that provide certain goods and services and it was mischievous for schools to claim to be unfamiliar with the instruction in the circular about school uniforms."
He said issuing a circular was "the oldest mode of communication in the education system".
Exclusive agreements with uniform suppliers often left parents without alternatives for purchasing uniforms and they were forced to pay any price demanded by the suppliers.
The Competition Commission's spokesman Sipho Ngwema said the survey assisted a great deal in directing their investigation where it needed to focus as they needed to understand how widespread the problem was. He said the investigation was most likely to be concluded in a month or two.
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