“Schools can continue to have branding on hats, tops, shirts, dresses and jackets – everything from the waist up – because it’s important for school pride and recognising students in a crowd,” a department spokesperson said.
Premier Jacinta Allan said the uniform change was to ensure parents doing it tough had one less thing to worry about.
“Government school uniforms should be worn with pride, but we need to make sure they’re affordable for families,” Allan said.
The change follows reports from charities, including the Smith Family and Foodbank, of increased demand from families due to the cost-of-living crisis.
State Schools’ Relief, a not-for-profit providing education supplies to disadvantaged Victorian students, reported an unprecedented demand for its services in the past financial year. More than 94,000 families from 1344 schools applied for support for supplies, the most in the organisation’s 94-year history.
Pants and shorts made up almost 20 per cent of the 261,257 uniform, footwear and essential educational items the organisation provided.
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Parents Victoria has lobbied to reduce school uniform costs and ease the burden on families for some time. Chief executive Gail McHardy, who is also on the board of State Schools’ Relief, said school uniform policy must not impact on a student’s right to access a public education.
“We hear too many stories where students and the school workforce are impacted on enforcing unreasonable uniform policy expectations, like the wearing of logoed compulsory uniform items such as socks, shorts, pants and sportswear,” McHardy said.
She said providing school councils with clearer policy parameters would help them in choosing affordable and practical uniforms.
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