Councillor’s bid to cut down high cost of school uniforms

A COUNCILLOR has launched a campaign to cut the cost of school uniforms for pupils as the start of the new term in September draws nearer.

Spotland and Falinge councillor Faisal Rana said parents face bills running into hundreds of pounds to kit out their children as they prepare to go back to school.

He now wants to see schools switch to a system of making school badges available to parents, who would then be able to apply them to a suitable blazer in line with the school’s uniform policy, instead of having no choice to buy a more costly option from an official supplier.

Coun Rana said: “Most secondary schools in the borough use official suppliers for school uniforms, such as Ziggy’s school wear, Topform and Moses.

“At these shops, a typical school blazer costs between £25 to £40. But if schools provided school badges, parents would be able to affix it to a blazer bought at a supermarket or discount supplier.

“A blazer bought at Asda, for example, costs just £10. New blazers are even listed on eBay from £6.99.

“The cost of kitting out your child to go back to school must be a nightmare for many families, particularly if you have two or three children. Blazers are the most expensive items and schools could quite easily reduce this cost by providing badges for a couple of quid and allowing parents to source their own blazer.

“What’s more, youngsters are growing rapidly at that age and are likely to have grown out of it within a year.”

To gather momentum behind his campaign, Coun Rana has also started a petition to gauge the strength of local feeling, and has so far received 56 signatures.

Explaining why the cause was so important, one signatory commented: “I am a teacher and see the financial struggle of families. Parents should be allowed to sew on logos to cheaper uniform be offered uniform vouchers with Topform/Monkhouse.”

Coun Rana said that with the start of the new school year set to see many pupils back in school for the first time in almost six months, the effects of the Covid-19 had created added reason for schools to consider the option.

He said: “It’s even more important this year that schools do everything they can to reduce the cost of uniforms. Lots of parents have lost their job or their income has been drastically reduced because of the coronavirus crisis.

“Most schools have quite strict uniform policies, so the least they could do is allow parents to kit out their child at the cheapest possible cost.”

Coun Rana’s petition is available to sign at www.change.org/p/ school-governingbodies-schools-mustmake-uniformscheaper.