The Education Ministry said it agreed with the recommendations on school uniforms made by a parliamentary committee and was, in fact, already implementing several of them.

The House Social Affairs Committee last month released for consultation a report on school uniforms.

The report looked into the controversial subject of school uniforms where parents are often limited in price, quality and availability and fork out money for expensive items available only from one supplier.

The Committee recommended that all schools – state, Church and private – should do their “utmost” to keep their uniforms as simple and generic as possible and that uniforms should remain unchanged for at least 10 years to attract more suppliers and businesses into the market. The ministry and the Education Directorate said this was already the case in state schools. In its recommendations, the Committee said schools should issue an expression of interest for the sale of uniforms.

The education authorities again said this system was in place in state schools. The authorities also said that, as recommended by the Committee, state schools allowed for competition and did not grant exclusivity on the sale of school uniforms.