Penza, 3 October 2013. PenzaNews. Situation, when educational establishment administration forces parents to buy school uniforms from a particular supplier is typical of Russia; however Penza region is the first region in Russia, where this issue drew prosecution office interest. This was stated by the president of National School Uniform Manufacturers Union Evgeny Tomak in an interview with news agency “PenzaNews.”

© PenzaNewsBuy the photo

In his opinion, it is not that important to investigate each case but to understand why such cases appear.

“The main reason is that at the regional level the direction was given to wear uniforms, but nobody specified, which form should be worn and where it should be purchased. Ultimate responsibility was allocated to educational establishment administration, which has much to worry about apart from it,” Evgeny Tomak said.

He emphasized that the question of school uniform supplying should be resolved at the regional level.

“This could be a regional government order or any other similar document, which specifies requirements to school uniform, establishes procedure of uniform delivery to educational institutions, regulates the rights and duties of manufacturers, suppliers and consumers,” the interviewee said.

According to him, common standards and master sample setting, as well as “attaching” educational establishments to certain garment manufactures will solve the problem of providing children from needy families with uniforms, will spare school administration the necessity to take responsibility for school uniform purchase, and will lead to their price reduction.

Evgeny Tomak gave an example of the Bryansk region, where such regulations work successfully.

“The school uniform was chosen following the results of the open competition, and all first-graders will be dressed with the use of the regional budget funds,” he explained.