School uniforms: Northern Ireland policy 'an outlier'

The education committee discussed school uniform policy at a meeting on Wednesday

Northern Ireland is an outlier in making children wear school uniforms, the deputy chair of Stormont's education committee has said.

Sinn Féin's Pat Sheehan said the United States and a majority of countries in Europe do not have uniforms.

He was replying to an education official who said there is overwhelming support for them.

Margaret Rose McNaughton was reporting results of a pre-consultation held with some schools and teachers.

With the cost-of-living crisis continuing to spiral, school uniforms can be a major financial burden for families.

Some families qualify for a one-off payment but the grant - which works out at about £43 for a primary school pupil and £62 or £67 for a secondary school pupil - lags beyond schemes available elsewhere in the UK.

In Scotland, for example, pupils can get £120 to £150 while in Wales it can be £125 to £200.

Meanwhile, Education Minister Paul Givan previously said he intended to launch a public consultation on introducing a price cap for school uniforms.

'Going without food for uniforms'

However, Ms McNaughton, from the Department of Education, told the Stormont committee there were "a lot of challenges" to price caps.

She added that while there are plans for new legislation regarding uniforms, it is not yet clear "what is possible".

"There is currently no legislation governing uniforms, and that falls very much to the school governing bodies to manage on a day-to-day basis," she said.

Paul Doherty, an SDLP councillor who founded the Foodstock charity in west Belfast, said he has heard of "horrific" stories of people going without food to buy uniforms.

He told BBC's Evening Extra programme that his charity can have up to 100 children a day attending the organisation's uniform bank.

Mr Doherty added that uniforms create a "sense of community" and not having them could lead to issues such as "who can and can't afford different sorts of items of clothing".

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Caroline, who has a daughter in secondary school, told the programme that the cost of a school blazer alone could take her full uniform grant.

"She doesn't need a blazer to go to school to be educated - she doesn't need £60 black shoes to wear to school," she added.

"If she's wearing her black trainers why should that matter?"

She added that while she believed it would be even more expensive for her child to wear her own clothes, the cost of uniforms need to be reined in.

'Overwhelming support' for uniforms

At Stormont on Wednesday, Ms McNaughton told members of the education committee that the department has provided guidance to schools that uniforms must be fair, reasonable and affordable - but that guidance is not legally binding.

"The vast majority of schools actually do follow that guidance but there are some who don't," Ms McNaughton said.

UUP committee member Robbie Butler and Alliance's Nick Mathison questioned whether schools obeyed the guidance, with Mr Mathison adding "it is in many cases not worth the paper it's written on".

The department is planning a public consultation on school uniform costs before the summer school holiday, as well as further consultation on the eligibility criteria for uniform grants and free school meals.

However, she said the department's pre-consultation with some schools and teachers showed "overwhelming support for the continued use of school uniforms".

The Department of Education is planning more consultations on school uniform costs and uniform grants

Ms McNaughton added there was widespread concern about the use of single supplies - where uniforms are only available from one retailer - and split opinion over the use of branded PE and games kit.

However, Mr Sheehan queried the questions used in the consultation.

Some committee members also questioned the pace of the consultation on uniform costs and any potential legal change.

Meanwhile, the committee was also told by a member of the Unison union that all children in Northern Ireland should be offered free school meals.

A Department of Education official, Jonathan Boyd, later said the department was considering the options to provide free school meals to pupils up to P3, P7 or all school children.

However, he did not say how much those options would cost.