Tuesday, March 19, 2024

CCPC warns schools against forcing parents to buy uniforms from schools

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City Cothing Factory School Uniforms
City Clothing Factory School Uniforms

The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission says it has noted with sadness that schools have continued to force parents and guardian to only buy school uniforms from them at exorbitant prices.

The Commission says it has continued to receive complaints from some members of the public on this not only unfortunate, but also unfair practice.

“We therefore, wish to echo and reiterate our warning to such schools who have taken the law upon themselves to be engaging in unfair trading practices that exploits the consumers that we are actively investigating such issues and we will follow them accordingly,” says Commission Spokesperson Namukolo Kasumpa.

“It has also come to our attention that some schools are also tying school places to buying of the uniforms at the same school, a situation which is unfair and against the law as it limits consumer choices.”

Mrs Kasumpa said this behaviour by schools is uncalled for, and is tantamount to unfair trading practice.
“According to the Competition and Consumer Protection Act No. 24 of 2010, any institution or individual found guilty is liable to pay the CCPC a fine not exceeding ten percent of that person’s or enterprise’s annual turnover. What makes a sad reading is the fact that this trend is being perpetrated by school authorities, who should be custodians of the law, taking advantage of consumer’s desperate situations to engage in limiting consumer choice,” she said.

She warned that the Commission will not allow this situation to continue as it is likely to cause inflation of uniform prices and reduce consumer choice, while on the other hand it excludes other alternative sources that provide similar uniforms.

“This practice if allowed to continue, is likely to frustrate Government’s efforts to provide cheaper, affordable or free education as pupils are more likely to be turned away from the school if they do not buy the uniforms from the school. The Commission is aware that uniforms need to be standards and therefore schools should provide a general standard of what type, shade and color of uniforms that are required, and ensure that school children conform to the standard of uniforms as guided by the school, whilst allowing parents and guardians to purchase uniforms from other sources that produce similar uniforms and most likely at competitive prices.”

“The Commission, therefore, requests the perpetrators to immediately desist from such vices and appeal to affected members of the public to report schools involved in this practice to CCPC,” she says.

7 COMMENTS

  1. CCPC SHOULD ASWELL CHECK THE UNBECOMING TREND OF DEMANDING THAT EACH STUDENT REPORTS TO SCHOOL WITH A REAM OF PAPER, TABLET OF SOAP, A ROLL OF TISSUE AND A TIN OF COBRA 875MLS. AS IF THIS IS NOT ENOUGH SCHOOLS ARE DEMANDING FOR PROJECT FUNDS K150 AND PTA FUND K160, PROGRESS BOOK TO BE BOUGHT AT SCHOOL K40 AND IN SOME CASES K45 ID CARDS BEING SOLD AT K30 RESPECTIVELY. WHERE IS THIS PF GOVT …SURE CANT YOU PEOPLE DO SOMETHING ALA TWA CHULA

    • PTAs are charged with the responsibility of setting out school user fees and whatever comes with such. Parents who shun PTA meeting are usually in the fore front of complaining. PEOs and DEBSs too ask schools to make unnecessary contributions for activities which do not directly benefit schools. Who should bring this habit to a permanent stop? If it continues, schools will continue to set higher user fees so that they pay these hungry higher offices.

  2. I personally find the CCPC position unfair and without any sense at all. Maybe they need to educate us on how far their mandate stretches. Schools are greatly under funded by the treasury and yet the nation expects nothing below excellent all round results from the same schools.
    UNZA which is equally a public learning institution is currentlly selly graduation gowns at nearly ZM3,000.00 each and is forcing all graduants to buy from the university. Why is this useless organisation silent about tis robbery?
    School uniform must not be different from one pair to the other in terms of quality of material, colour density, tailoring style and pattern. Otherwise it is not uniform at all.
    All suspicion of school Heads directly bnefiting from the sales are mere baseless suspicions. Lack of…

  3. Not only that some schools in Southern Province are asking for a bag of cement even emphazing that it should not be Dangote but Chilanga. They are also demanding for K200 to buy a bus.

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