MAPSSS has, in the past days, received various complaints from parents related to school uniforms. We are informed that some schools acted ultra vires and issued instructions to parents not to send their kids in any uniform except the P.E. kit. Furthermore, parents are complaining that the authorised supplier of school uniforms has failed to deliver items ordered weeks before the beginning of the scholastic year.
In view of the above, MAPSSS is giving these recommendations to parents:
- Schools’ SMTs are required to abide by the circular issued by the Strategy and Support Department of the Ministry for Education on June 18th. This states: “During the Scholastic Year 2019/2020 the present uniform may be retained, whilst parents/legal guardians might send the students with the tracksuit, including polo shirt, t-shirt, shorts, cap and for winter the same jacket used to date”. In view of this, parents are being asked to ignore any other instructions given by specific schools.
- Parents whose children grew out of their uniforms are being encouraged to seek temporary solutions by buying second-hand uniforms from parents of older students.
- In cases where the authorised supplier did not deliver uniforms which were ordered by parents weeks and months in advance, MAPSSS is encouraging parents to send their children to school in plain clothing which matches or is very close to the colour scheme of the respective college.
MAPSSS insists that no child or parent should be reprimanded by the schools for reasons which are beyond their control. Furthermore, MAPSSS urges the Ministry to insist that the Authorised Supplier has a sufficient supply of uniforms as is required per contract conditions.
Fl-aħħar jiem, MAPSSS irċeviet ammont konsiderevoli ta’ ilmenti minn ġenituri minħabba s-sitwazzjoni attwali tal-uniformijiet.
Ninsabu infurmati li xi skejjel aġixxew ultra vires u taw struzzjonijiet lill-ġenituri biex jibagħtu lit-tfal tagħhom biss bil-PE kit tal-uniformi l-antika u qalulhom li l-ebda uniformi oħra mhu se tkun aċċettata. Barra minn hekk, il-ġenituri qegħdin jilmentaw li l-fornitur awtorizzat tal-uniformijiet tal-iskola naqas li jipprovdi uniformijiet li ilhom ordnati minn ġimgħat qabel il-bidu tas-sena skolastika.
Fil-dawl ta’ dan, MAPSSS qed tagħti dawn ir-rakkomandazzjonijiet lill-ġenituri:
- L-SMT ta’ kull skola huwa obbligat li jimxi skont iċ-ċirkulari maħruġa mid-Dipartiment tal-Istrateġija u Appoġġ tal-Ministeru tal-Edukazzjoni fit-18 ta’ Ġunju 2019. Din tgħid li “matul is-sena skolastika 2019/2020 se tinżamm l-uniformi attwali, bil-ġenituri jew kustodji tat-tfal jistgħu jiddeċiedu li jibagħtu lit-tfal bit-tracksuit, polo shirt, t-shirt, beritta, u fix-xitwa, bl-istess ġakketta użata sa issa. Fid-dawl ta’ dan, il-ġenituri qed jiġu mitluba jinjoraw kull struzzjoni differenti mogħtija minn xi skejjel.
- Ġenituri li t-tfal tagħhom ħarġu mill-uniformijiet tagħhom huma nkoraġġuti li jfittxu soluzzjonijiet termporanji fosthom li jixtru uniformijiet second hand minn ġenituri ta’ studenti ikbar.
- F’każijiet fejn il-fornitur awtorizzat naqas li jipprovdi l-uniformijiet ordnati, MAPSSS qed tħeġġeġ lill-ġenituri u kustoji biex jibagħtu lit-tfal tagħhom lebsin ħwejjeġ bla diżinn li l-kulur tagħhom jaqbel jew huwa viċin ħafna tal-iskema ta’ kuluri użata fil-kulleġġ rispettiv.
MAPSSS tisħaq li l-ebda tifel jew tifla, u ebda ġenitur, ma għandu jiġi mwiddeb mill-iskejjel għal raġunijiet li mhumiex fil-kontroll tagħhom.
MAPSSS qiegħda tħeġġeġ ukoll lill-MInisteru biex jinsisti mal-Fornitur Awtorizzat biex ikollu provvista adegwata ta’ uniformijiet kif mitlub fil-kuntratt.
