Competition Commission urges schools to stick to uniform guidelines

In an effort to curb anti-competitive behaviour at schools with regards to the procurement of uniforms and to ensure that school uniforms become reasonable and affordable, the Competition Commission has urged schools to stick to uniform guidelines.

This comes after an investigation into anti-competitive behaviour at schools was conducted last year.

According to a statement released by the Competition Commission, the probe established that a number of schools still had exclusive contracts with one supplier, contracts that didn’t go through a competitive and transparent bidding process.

Media Statement: #Schools urged to stick to #uniform guidelines pic.twitter.com/SBzrryMPtH

— CompComSA (@CompComSA) January 9, 2019

Instead of relying on litigation to force schools to comply, the Competition Commission reportedly engaged all stakeholders, including private schools, suppliers, governing bodies, and the government. All parties involved agreed on the implementation of school uniform guidelines issued by the government.

School uniform guidelines are as follows:

• School uniform should be as generic as possible such that it is obtainable from as many suppliers possible.
• Exclusivity should be limited to items the schools regard as necessary to obtain from pre-selected suppliers e.g. badges.
• Schools should follow a competitive bidding process when appointing suppliers.
• Schools should appoint more than one supplier in order to give parents more options.
• The concluded agreements should be of limited duration.

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