West Tyrone MLAs call for more affordable school uniforms

MORE needs to be done to bring down the rising costs of school uniforms in the North, West Tyrone MLAs have said.

The average family is currently spending £173 on primary and £378 on post-primary school uniforms, according to research done by the Parents Engagement Group.

The school uniform grant available to people in the North has been increased this year by 20 per-cent to help support low-income families. This equates to an increase of £42.90, for primary school pupils and £82.40 for secondary school pupils.

Although this has been welcomed, West Tyrone MLAs say more need to be done so a long-term solution can be found.

Sinn Féin’s Nicola Brogan said, “Workers and families are already struggling with the rising cost of living and the price of fuel and electricity, paying out huge amounts for school uniforms will only add more pressure.

“The recent increase in the uniform grant is welcome, but more must be done to support families with rising uniform costs. We need a long-term solution.

“Sinn Féin has a plan to make school uniforms affordable and cut costs for families when back-to-school times come around.

“To implement this plan, we need an Executive up and running now so that we can start to put money in people’s pockets and implement a plan to cut the costs of school uniforms. One party should not hold that important work to ransom.”

Daniel McCrossan, of the SDLP, said a solution to the issue needed to be found that worked for both families and schools in the short and long-term.

Mr McCrossan said, “I see no reason why school uniforms should not be affordable to every family, it is not right that people should be expected to pay eye-watering prices as part of accessing their education.

“Scotland give a bigger grant. England and Wales have new legislation which makes uniforms more affordable.

”The Education Minister needs to step up and provide more support to get parents through this difficult period and it would be much easier if she and her party colleagues in the DUP got back to work and stopped holding people here to ransom.”

The SDLP MLA added, “In Scotland, for example, the grant is £120 for primary pupils and £150 for secondary school pupils. At a time when people cannot afford to put fuel in their cars, food on the table or to heat their homes I don’t know how we can expect families to shell out hundreds of pounds per child for a uniform.”