The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education has reiterated that public schools cannot compel parents to purchase uniforms from the school, as this infringes on their right to choose freely.
Speaking at a recent meeting in Bulawayo, the ministry’s Director of Communications and Advocacy, Taungana Ndoro, urged parents with grievances to report them to the Ministry’s district offices, where they would be addressed appropriately.
Citing Thekwane High School as a case currently under investigation, Ndoro stressed that schools are not allowed to make uniform purchases a condition for enrolment, describing such practices as illegal. He said:
“There was talk of schools saying that for Form One or Lower Six, purchase uniforms to be guaranteed a place.
“The minister announced it on television: no school is allowed to force parents to buy uniforms at that school.”
Ndoro emphasised that parents are free to purchase school uniforms from any supplier, provided the correct colour codes are followed.
He argued that when a school engages in commercial activities, such as manufacturing uniforms, it effectively places itself in competition with the wider market.
However, he stressed that competition does not equate to a monopoly, and schools cannot compel parents to buy uniforms exclusively from them.
Ndoro warned that any school that forces parents to purchase uniforms or stationery directly from the institution is acting unlawfully. He said:
“If a blazer is US$35 in the market and US$45 at school, parents will go to the market.
“You don’t need to force them, and if it’s vice versa, parents will buy at the school.”
He urged communities to report such cases through official channels, “so that parents do not have to suffer in silence.”
Ndoro also clarified that while the ministry’s uniform policy mainly applies to public schools, private schools are governed by their own contractual arrangements. He said:
“When you send your child to a non-government school, you have made your choice to say that you want education that is provided outside the public system.
“This is sort of like a private arrangement in which you get into a contractual agreement with the schools, and you sign various contracts.
“If you don’t read the fine print of that contract, there’s not much we can do when you come to us as the ministry.
“If you breach that contract, they will take you to court outside of us because you’ve made the contract in a private civil arrangement.”
However, Ndoro stressed that private schools remain subject to ministry oversight in matters such as fee approvals and travel authorisations.
