School uniform contracts may break trading laws
Monday 31st October 2011, 2:59PM GMT.
Andrew Riseley, the JCRA deputy executive director
PARENTS could be paying too much for uniforms because a handful of schools in Jersey may not be complying with fair trading laws, says the Island’s competition watchdog.
Despite issuing a warning to all primaries and secondaries earlier this year, the Jersey Competition Regulatory Authority says a number have failed to break off exclusive contracts with shops which breach rules of monopolies.
That is likely to mean mums and dads are getting a bad deal on bespoke items such as blazers, jumpers, sports kit, bags and even socks.
The JCRA have written to all schools emphasising the need for them to step into line.
Andrew Riseley, the JCRA deputy executive director, said that some schools had made real efforts to address exclusive supply agreements, but that others were still maintaining arrangements that were clearly exclusive agreements.
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St Michael’s School is the worst. Prices for uniforms is extortion.
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Why cannot the JCRA look after the businesses which need control such as the utilities.
As a parent whose children who go to VCP/JCGP I want continuity of supply and I would rather pay more for that privilage than the the lowest price.
Would the States please “rid us of this unruly priest” which is the current raisson d’etre of the JCRA.
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How much is this joker paid to worry about trivial things like this?
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Someone in Jersey ripping off people NEVER.
When is the competition watchdog going to report on food costs in Jersey? What about the ridiculous pricing of broadband in the island?They are clearly demonstrating that they have no idea what is going on under there noses, get your finger out and look at what we pay in the island compared to the UK and before someone states that we are not in the UK, we still do not deserve to pay these silly prices just because we are surrounded by water.
Do not let anyone tell you that there is shipping costs involved or GST because it is all excuses so that some individuals can get richer.
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Oh – get real, schools make very little on these uniforms WITH the school logo on it, can’t really see the BHS & the likes of even bothering with such a small island, more to the point.
Many secondary schools students fail to wear the correct uniform anyway as many parents fail to enforce it. But this can be bought from the uniform shop or from Lyndale, JCG a prime example, skirt is supposed to be an inch above the knee, not an inch below the girls nickers.
Sort out the dress code first please!!
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About time,how can one school supplier offer 5% commission to the schools on every sale when it should give the parents a discount as the schools are government departments with tax payer allocated funds.
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OK lets guess which Private schools and colleges they are.
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I don’t understand the need for it; it’s not a requirement in the French or German schools I’ve been to, let’s just abolish uniforms and break the monopoly!
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go to shoestring in columberie
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Good! I really hope something is done about this. I know of only one place we can get our school kit from, with 2 official school tracksuits costing us over £60 this term. We’ve also had a letter home when the children went to school in exactly the right colour kit, but without the new school logo. Really not fair on parents at the moment.
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I go to Haute Vallee Secondary School and I’m in Year Nine.
I agree with this completely, my mum is paying far too much for school uniform and I haven’t been able to buy my winter uniform for this season yet – and I got in a lot of trouble at school with my Head of Year just because my mum could not afford a new school shirt straight away.
I think that school students should be able to wear something comfortable and practical, their own clothes.
There should be certain rules, for example: No jewellery, no overly-revealing clothes, etc.
The shop that I am only able to get my full school uniform from is the Lyndale Sports shop, which as a lot of parents would agree, is just too expensive.
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I am somewhat alarmed that schools could get ‘fined’ over this issue ! I am unsure how a bespoke item such as a school blazer could be offered by several local retailers ! And anyway, most schools have a thriving used uniform shop, so parents do have a choice.
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Go for it JCRA! One of my children attends a school that has been swimming against the tide on this lately, despite a fair bit of non-compliance and complaints through the PTA. Their sweetheart deal with a certain local shop would cost us a small fortune, if we were to cave into the pressure to go along with it.
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About time and all very well, but what power has the JCRA (or anyone else) got if the schools and shops put two fingers up
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Almost as bad as The States having exclusive agreements in respect of building maintenance contracts and education suppliers !!!
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I wish I had been aware of this before shelling out a fortune on new uniform and kit which we were told could only be bought from one store.
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Even if we do insist on this nonsense of a school uniform which has long been done away with in First World countries like France, Spain and Germany why do we have to have a proprietary make?
Wouldn’t it be sufficient for example to say a white shirt and black trousers / skirt? These can be obtained on eBay for a few pounds.
Does anyone remember the lad who went to school in a skirt in protest against draconian uniform rules?
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Well, I think its a positive thing. I spent £300 on my daughters secondary school uniform. She complained as I’d bought it big so that she would grow into it and I won’t have to replace it each year.
Private schools well the parents can afford to send their kids there then they can afford their prices. Those on scholarship should buy from the second hand shop.
As for wearing what they like to school. Get real, its hard enough getting the kids to comply with the uniform let alone what they want to wear to school. Their own weekend clothes are far more expensive then the uniform they wear. You would start to see the gap between those whose parents can afford to buy their little darlings designer labels and the rest of us who struggle to buy cheap knock-offs.
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#18 – Like you I bought everything big because of the extortionate prices (my daughter also moaned about the size of certain items ie skirt, blazer, tracksuit). However she’s now in year 11 & I haven’t had to replace a single item plus it all fits a lot better now!!
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All I can do is repeat that I did not see any bullying in schools on the continent because of what someone was wearing ; it’s probably true some kids would wear a jeans and t-shirt while others would wear tracksuits and bling but so what?
Incidentally doesn’t anyone think their children might be subject to bullying if they wander around with their skirt or trousers halfway down their legs?
As a teacher, I was expected at the start of every lesson and during tutorials to make sure the students compiled with the dress code ; if for instance a boy was wearing trainers I had to make him go and change them. After a while I simply stopped doing it as it was a waste of my time and theirs.
When are we going to stop this nonsense?
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Several comments here from people who obviously don’t realise what this is about. Discreetly avoiding names, to protect the guilty, there are States schools changing their uniform specification so that only a single expensive supplier’s current product meets it, and second-hand, hand-me-down and chain store generic uniform becomes obsolete. The JCRA have been asked by parents, myself included, to intervene in this scam.
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