Source: Radio New Zealand
Last year more than 38,000 hardship payments were granted to help parents with school expenses. Unsplash / Curated Lifestyle
The School Boards Association says school boards should try to lower the cost of uniforms, if it is what parents want.
Last year, more than 38,000 hardship payments were granted to help parents with school expenses, including uniforms, totalling $11 million.
Thousands of Facebook users are also turning to online groups for second-hand sales to kit out their children, with Otago University public health researcher Johanna Reidy saying cost is a major concern for families.
She told RNZ one in 10 students reported their parents had borrowed money to pay for uniforms, while one in four said the cost was paid off over time. Even among families who paid up front, 20 percent said it caused worry.
The School Boards Association president Meredith Kennett told Morning Report that not putting a school emblem on a uniform and keeping the uniform plain might be one way to save money.
“Uniform suppliers talk about the additional cost of adding those little touches.
“That is definitely a question that the school board should be asking: Is that something we really need, or is the plain colour enough? It depends on what the purpose of the uniform is and what they are trying to achieve.”
She said that, depending on the school, parents might be willing to pay more for a school uniform with extra pieces or details.
“With Westlake Boys, for example, they are competing with surrounding private schools. All of those private schools dress like that, and they have a standard that the parent community expects them to uphold. So that is what the board is representing in that decision.
“One of the tricky things about being on a school board is you’re trying to balance the many opinions of your parent community, as well as potentially your business community, your local iwi ana hapū. It comes down to what the community wants.”
She said school boards also consider health and safety, incorporating the special character of the school, practicality and fitting a diverse student group, when setting uniform requirements.
“There are so many different things a school is looking at, depending on their focus and their own strategic plan.”
Price should reflect families’ circumstances – Willis
Finance Minister Nicola Willis told Morning Report the cost of uniforms “really stings”.
“My plea is to school boards, because school boards need to represent parents and their communities,” she said.
“When they’re deciding what the uniform requirements are, they should reflect the circumstances of the families that attend their school and not be unrealistic about the cost of the uniforms that they ask people to buy.”
Deputy prime minister David Seymour on Tuesday told First Up the prices of uniforms at some schools was “outrageous”.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
