In Seoul’s Songpa-gu, an official is organizing school uniforms at a sharing uniform store. /News1
The government plans to conduct a comprehensive survey of school uniform prices across middle and high schools nationwide to address the issue of expensive uniforms. They intend to lower the purchasing burden on parents by encouraging the discontinuation of formal uniforms rarely worn by students. In addition, there will be a special inspection on private education costs to curb their rising trend.
On the 26th, the government announced its ‘Plan to Improve and Strengthen Management of School Uniform and Academy Fees.’ Seo Se-hoon, head of the Planning and Coordination Office of the Ministry of Education, stated, “While there is a system for supporting uniform costs, parents still have to purchase everyday clothes and gym uniforms separately, and the high prices lead to a significant burden. Issues like bid-rigging or deteriorating quality are also consistently raised,” he added.
The Ministry of Education will conduct a full survey of the unit prices and vendors of formal uniforms, everyday clothes, and gym uniforms at 5,700 middle and high schools nationwide by the 16th of next month. Based on this data, they plan to establish a maximum price for each clothing category, including everyday clothes, within the first half of the year. Currently, the government only sets a price ceiling for formal uniforms, which is 344,530 KRW this year.
The government also plans to phase out formal uniforms. In cooperation with city and provincial education offices, they will recommend a switch to more casual uniforms like everyday clothes or gym uniforms, which allow for easier movement. They will enable some items, such as shirts and pants, to be replaced with similar products available in the market. For 13 regions that currently provide formal uniforms as in-kind support, a shift to cash or voucher support will be recommended.
Consumer choice will also be expanded by encouraging bids from producer cooperatives composed of local small business owners, and additional points will be awarded during bidding. Support will be provided for consulting to establish joint brands.
The Fair Trade Commission will analyze the distribution structure, prices, and unfair practices of four uniform brands to devise improvement measures. There will be a focus on reporting suspected bid-rigging or irregularities both online and offline during a designated reporting period until March. If signs of collusion are detected, on-site investigations will be conducted, and legal actions could be pursued. They are also considering sanctions such as restricting bidding eligibility or imposing fines.
The government will initiate a special inspection of private education costs. They will conduct focused inspections on cases where tuition exceeds the registered or declared fees, charges are applied for self-study hours, or there is excessive billing for mock exam fees, transportation costs, or other expenses. Academies with tuition in the top 10% or those with high tuition increases over the past five years will be prioritized for inspection.
Reports from citizens on illegal private tutoring will be received, and on-site investigations will be conducted if necessary. The government plans to introduce fines to recover unjust gains from illegal activities and increase the maximum fine from 3 million KRW to 10 million KRW.