If you happen to be a parent of a high school student, especially those joining form ones, one clear undisputed fact is that schools are always advocating for uniforms to be bought within.
That school principals and management can compel parents and students to buy uniforms in designated spots within or outside the school is an issue that baffles me.
The robbery without violence is achieved in a way that parents have no choice but to oblige since they are desperate for their sons and daughters to join the “dream schools.”
In most cases, the price of “these special uniforms” have proven more expensive, probably five times the normal price if you were to purchase the same outside.
Apparently, the syndicate is so entrenched that it is almost illegal for parents to contemplate getting uniforms outside.
Recently, a parent who took her daughter to an unnamed school within Nairobi city almost got the shock of her life after learning that uniforms alone for girls fetched more than 20,000 Kenya shillings.
While this parent claimed that she could get the same uniforms and mattress for half the price, the school insisted that she could not get them outside since that would breach their rule of “uniformity”.
“I am so much disappointed that the schools are now turning into business centers where they buy and sell uniforms at huge profits and still expect us to pay school fees. What happened to the freedom of choice? Is it an offense if parents can get the same goods outside at cheaper prices?” Asked one parent.
“It is high time the ministry of education reins on these thieves so that they stop misusing parents. You find that most of these teachers have colluded with surrounding tailors who end up giving them huge kickbacks at the expense of our poor students. To them it is about milking parents dry.”Added another concerned parent.
Another parent stated: “The auditor general should conduct investigations in all schools to find out how the so-called uniform/mattress money is helping the schools. These people must decide whether they want to teach or conduct profit sales in schools. Pathetic souls robbing as the Ministry of Education watches helplessly. Their silence is too much or they are colluding with the likes of Magoha?”
As a result, a survey conducted by Opinion Track Limited established that those who want to buy uniforms outside should be allowed while those willing to buy expensive ones in school should also go ahead.
The research firm, having questioned 5,000 participants across the country, also found out that parents had brains and so it was not true that they would buy different uniforms as long as the instructions from schools with regards to the exact type were clear.
Majority also blamed the ministry of education for being reluctant in bringing order to these “market centers.”
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