Compliance crackdown

SCHOOL UNIFORMS: COMMISSION DEVELOPS TOOL TO CHECK ADHERENCE >>>>> Bid to root out excessive pricing and exclusion of small and medium businesses.

- Ina Opperman

The Competition Commission has been working with the department of basic education, schools and suppliers for five years to ensure that all parties know what the commission's guidelines for school uniforms and learning materials are.

Now, it is developing a tool to monitor suppliers and prices of school uniforms to ensure compliance.

The tool will be distributed to all schools to assist the commission and the department to determine noncompliance and identify anticompetitive behaviour in the school uniform market, including excessive pricing and the exclusion of small and medium enterprises.

The commission will use the data received from the tool to ensure fair and competitive pricing and promote the entry and/or expansion of small suppliers in the school uniform market.

So far, the commission has not prosecuted anyone for not sticking to the guidelines, though it did reach settlements with various schools and large school uniform suppliers after its 2017 probe.

Meanwhile, the commission continued to receive complaints from parents and suppliers and has a record of 490 complaints received between 2020 and 2025.

It also resolved 465 complaints about school uniforms and learning materials.