Cape Town - School governing bodies have been instructed to comply with the Competition Act after several complaints to the Competition Commission about exclusive agreements between schools and school uniform suppliers.
A recent letter from the Western Cape Education Department to schools states that the commission has received a number of complaints from potential uniform suppliers in the province “regarding their exclusion from competing in the market for the supply of school uniforms to schools”.
“This exclusion relates to the use of exclusive agreements between schools and incumbent school uniform suppliers which, in some instances, are concluded for an unlimited duration. Parents also complain about these exclusive agreements and the resultant high prices of school uniforms.”
The letter provided a list of measures that schools have to implement “to mitigate the potential anti-competitive effect of exclusive agreements” for procuring school uniforms. The department said uniforms should be as generic as possible.
It recommended that schools invite bids for the supply of uniforms and appoint more than one supplier.
The contract should be for a limited period whereafter the tender process would start again.
In its May newsletter, the commission said it had drafted an “education leaflet for governing body associations” in a bid to raise awareness about competition issues in exclusive agreements for the procurement of school uniforms. Meetings with education authorities had also been held.
It said a number of complaints from uniform suppliers had been received since 2010. Last year a Cape Town parent lodged a complaint against a school and specialist school wear retailer. The parent said the school, and several others in the area, had appointed a service provider as their sole stockist for uniforms and that the prices charged were too high. There were no alternatives. According to the commission, the school agreed to change to a competitive process within 18 months.
Jessica Shelver, spokeswoman for Education MEC Debbie Schäfer, said the department had met with the commission.
“We respect the right of school governing bodies to determine dress codes. While respecting this right, we support national guidelines on school uniforms that recognise the value of school uniforms while urging schools to try and reduce the cost of uniforms through various means, especially for the poor.”
The guidelines state that this aim will be best achieved by rationalising the current extensive range of uniform options, and limiting the number of uniforms required by a single school, and, where practical, discouraging the “single supplier” approach to school uniforms.
Tim Gordon, national chief executive of the Governing Body Foundation, said governing body associations had also had talks with the commission.
The matter has also been discussed in its newsletter to members. He said the request that suppliers be selected through a bidding process was reasonable as was the recommendation that contracts should be for a limited period.
Cape Argus