Debate contribution: School Uniforms: Affordability

Debate contribution by Mr Gerry Carroll on 5 March 2024.

MLA

Mr Gerry Carroll

Party at the time

People Before Profit Alliance

Date

5 March 2024

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

School Uniforms: Affordability

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4252562

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Members have spoken about the importance of the motion and the issue, and one Member mentioned last year's LucidTalk polling, commissioned by Save the Children, which found that parents are cutting back to afford uniforms. A clear majority of parents — six in 10 — struggle to meet school uniform costs. That is an unacceptable situation. It is appalling that families have to choose between feeding and clothing their children. That really sums up the state of our society. It is an obvious point, but no parent should have to worry about how they will afford to send their children to school. Working-class households, which have been hammered by years of Tory and Stormont austerity, including the two-child benefit cap, cannot keep forking out extortionate sums for school uniforms, particularly during a cost-of-living or cost-of-profiteering crisis. We have heard reports of kids missing school due to uniform issues, and Members mentioned that today. In my view, the costs absolutely infringe on children's right to an education. The stress that every family goes through at the start of a new school year is almost unimaginable. I come from a big family, and I remember that, every August, my parents were stressed out. They did not say anything, but you could tell by the looks on their faces that having to pay the extra uniform costs put a massive pressure on them. That was many years ago; you can only imagine the pressure faced by families now, with costs going up and wages, in real terms, going down. It is also important to note that most education workers, including teachers, realise the pressures that parents face. Many of them, of course, face those pressures themselves as parents and as underpaid workers. Recently, I was at a community event in west Belfast, and I was told by somebody that the people who used to donate presents and food parcels at Christmas are now the people who are going into those centres and seeking food parcels, because their wages are not keeping up with inflation. It is a really unacceptable state of play. School leaders and boards of governors need to change and to take action. Schools can and should take action. We need legislation, of course, but they should take action to implement a more generic uniform. There is no need for expensive blazers or branded PE kits. It is a choice that serves nothing and nobody except the companies involved and the outdated sense of prestige that comes with a fancy uniform. A basic school uniform — two pairs of trousers and some shirts and jumpers — can be bought for in and around £20. Some bunscoileanna

have uniforms with branded school jumpers that cost around £20 or so. It can be done. The state can and should intervene to curtail uniform costs. Schools should be mandated to source more affordable uniforms. People mentioned the Tories bringing in legislation in England a number of years ago. It is our view that families should not have to pay any core costs for education. Uniforms, like books and other necessities, should be free in all schools. There are just over 300,000 pupils in the North: if we were to give every one of them £100 for a generic uniform, that would cost over £33 million. I know that the Minister and others may say that that is unrealistic and that the money is not there, but by comparison, during COVID, £145 million was spent on the high street voucher scheme. Are we to say that pupils' education is less important than that scheme? I hope not. We would pay for it by taxing the rich and by taxing companies and corporations that are making and boasting of record profits. Pre-tax profits among the North's biggest firms rose by 46% to £1·367 billion last year. Corporate sales are up to £31 billion, and UK wealth is up at £15 trillion, an overwhelming majority of which is in the hands of the ultra-rich 1%. There is a lot of wealth around these islands, but it is in the hands of the wrong people. We need to have that conversation about taking from the wealthy and putting it into the hands of ordinary people, including those who struggle to pay uniform costs. Finally, we also need to have a conversation, which is connected to the debate, about abolishing the grammar-school system if we are to truly have a fair and equitable education system. The grammar-school system reinforces the class division in our society and leads to young people feeling that they are inadequate and that they are failures, when they absolutely are not. Let us tackle uniform costs, but let us also tackle that unfair categorisation of our young people.

793 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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