Uniform isn’t your business, school principals tell ministry

A standoff is looming between secondary school heads and the government after the heads association vowed to disregard the Ministry of Education guidelines on the purchase of school uniforms.

The principals maintained they would continue issuing guidelines to learners and parents on where to buy uniforms.

The position is in conflict with the Ministry of Education’s position that school management should not dictate to parents where to buy uniforms for their children.

The ministry has also warned head teachers against dictating the cost of the uniform, saying parents have the right to look for the most affordable items.

But yesterday, the Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association (Kessha) chairperson Kahi Indimuli appeared to defy the guidelines, saying schools will continue advising parents on where to source uniforms and at what cost.

“I want to assure the nation we do not use our schools to mint money. We provide an opportunity for parents to easily, safely and cheaply get uniform,” said Indimuli, as he sought to dispel the notion school heads collude with uniform distributors to inflate costs in exchange for kickbacks.

He made the remarks during the ongoing Kessha annual conference in Mombasa, yesterday. “I want to assure that we can regulate ourselves. We do not need to be regulated on this,” he added.

Indimuli said the issue of inflating costs arose from schools lumping together several boarding items as uniforms.
Competitive bidding
The Khessa chair said principals had held discussions on the matter and agreed to separate the items so that the final figure does not appear inflated.

“We have discussed with my colleagues and we have said that we need to separate these very clearly so that we can define what is uniform and its cost and what are boarding items including mattress, bed sheets so that it is clear,” he said.

Explaining how the cost of uniforms is arrived at, Indimuli said schools advertise the supply of the items and go for competitive bidding so that they give parents and learners the best possible prices.

“What we do is to make it easier for the parents. When you see us tell them to buy in shop A, it is not that we have hit some agreement with that shop. It is because it won the tender having qualified through the process,” he explained.

He added: “When we say come and get it in schools, it is because we have asked the shop to make it easier for parents to come and collect uniforms in school. We cannot, because we are all parents, knowingly make our children fail to go to school because we have made uniforms very prohibitive.”

He said the Kessha Governing Council, comprising 72 members, held several meetings and agreed that principals will regulate themselves so that they continue to provide quality and affordable uniforms.
Every year as learners join Form One, there is public outcry over the skyrocketing cost of uniforms, with schools asking parents to pay uniform fees to specific school accounts, a system that has been heavily criticised.

According to parents, some schools overprice uniforms and are now demanding that they be allowed to buy them where they prefer as long as they match specifications.

In January, Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu issued strict guidelines on school uniforms, warning headteachers against dictating to parents where to purchase the items and at what price.
“There will be no requirement from anybody for parents to go to specific shops to buy uniforms, all the school management should do is to indicate the kind of uniform required, the colour and specifications and from there, parents are at liberty to buy uniform where they wish,” the CS said.

Machogu’s predecessor George Magoha (now deceased) was even more categorical.
Speaking early last year, Magoha stated that there was no obligation for parents to buy uniforms from the stores prescribed by school principals.

“It is extremely important that school leaders have a human face on these matters. Those students who have exact uniforms in good condition should be allowed to be in school until they are able to acquire new ones,” Magoha said.

He noted that while principals have the right to direct parents to specific outlets, any child who acquires decent second-hand clothes similar to the school should be allowed to join the school with no restrictions.

Magoha said parents have the freedom to buy uniforms and other personal items from outlets of their choice.