By Hajira Khota

The Competition Tribunal’s decision that schools cannot force parents to buy their children’s school uniform from a specified supplier has been hailed as a major victory for low-income families and small businesses.

The agreement comes after the commission looked into a number of schools, as well as school uniform makers and suppliers, for alleged violations of the Competition Act.

In 2017, there were multiple complaints from parents and school uniform suppliers, prompting the investigation. However, many parents are concerned about the quality of new school uniforms.

This will also benefit students who have been bullied at school because of their worn-out uniforms.

The National Association of School Governing Bodies Matakanya Matakanya spoke to Radio Islam International applauded the Competition Tribunal’s decision, so that parents will be able to afford school uniforms and also encourage service providers to ensure fair prices.

Matakanya says that the aim of the Competition Commission is to discourage the green contract and suppliers that sabotage parents who can’t afford to buy their children’s uniforms from those costly suppliers.

“In the case of the green contract, you would find there was a contract which started in 1948 and up to now it still is the only service provider”.

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