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OPINION: "We are forced to buy school uniforms that are too expensive for our children to only wear for a year"

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Are the costs of putting together your child's school uniform becoming too expensive?
Are the costs of putting together your child's school uniform becoming too expensive?

"I was just reading up on what the country is doing about the high prices of school uniforms – I can only see reports from your newspaper in January, and nothing more, also the same for the rest of the media. So at the beginning of the year there's all this hype and then it just goes quiet.

But what is going to be done to help the general public with this issue?

The economy in our country is not very well off, everyone is struggling and the petrol is going up yet again, among other things. 

We are forced and guided to the area where your child must go to school. Then we are forced to buy school uniforms that are TOO expensive. If you don’t, your child gets in trouble, or you do.

There are second-hand stores in most schools, but the items being sold there are old and worn out. And you still have to pay for them.

My son is a Grade 1 student, and his tracksuit – only his tracksuit which he has to wear for winter – costs R275 for the pants and R450 for the jacket = R725. This is only worn once as a Grade 1 student grows constantly, which means next year I will have to pay this price again, if not higher.

And then he has to have specific socks: white for a young boy and white tekkies, pure white. The tekkies are expensive, R200, as they know you have to buy them. R200!!! That is ridiculous but we as parents have no choice." 
 
- Anonymous

Disclaimer: The views of columnists published on Parent24 are their own and therefore do not necessarily represent the views of Parent24.

Do you feel the same way? Are school uniforms too expensive? How are you managing with all the added costs that come along with putting your child through school? Tell us by emailing chatback@parent24.com and we may publish your comments. 

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