The Competition Commission has been working with the Department of Basic Education, schools, and suppliers for five years to ensure that everyone is aware of the commission’s guidelines for school uniforms and learning materials. So far, the commission has not prosecuted anyone for not sticking to the guidelines, although it has reached settlements with various schools and large school uniform suppliers following its 2017 investigation. Meanwhile, the commission continued to receive complaints from parents and suppliers, recording 490 complaints between 2020 and 2025, and resolved 465 complaints related to school uniforms and learning materials.
But now, the commission is getting tough on this issue that affects the pockets of all parents in the country. “The commission consistently indicated that it is not in the best interest of schools to be going through legal processes due to non-compliance, and that we would give schools enough time to implement the necessary measures to ensure that they comply with the guidelines. It is fair to say that schools have been given sufficient time to comply with the guidelines.” Since 2010, the Competition Commission has received complaints about schools that signed exclusive supply agreements with specific selected suppliers of school uniforms without any transparent or competitive bidding process, which prevented competition in the market.
Parents had no choice but to pay higher prices for school essentials, and in 2017, the commission initiated an investigation against numerous schools and manufacturers and/or suppliers of school uniforms for the potential abuse of dominance and restrictive anti-competitive practices in the supply of school uniform items nationwide. In addition, the commission undertook a series of interventions to enhance competition in the procurement of school uniforms and other learning-related goods and services to increase competition in the market and provide parents, guardians and learners by offering more choices, ensuring that they are not compelled to purchase school uniforms or learning materials from exclusively selected suppliers. TheCompetition Commission published a guide for schools, parents and school governing bodies(SGBs) on pro-competitive principles that should be considered for the procurement of school uniforms and learning materials in 2021. The guidelines are availablehere.
Read Full Article on The Citizen
