IN UNIFORMITY

Free access to textbooks, uniforms and noon meals have been officially acknowledged as the right of students from class 1 to class 8 in the country. The free uniform scheme, envisaged allotment of plan funds for distributing school uniforms to all girl students from class one to eight and all boy students excluding those in the APL category. The state government, however, improvised on this scheme on its own from the next academic year onwards by allotting its plan fund for those students in government schools who stood outside the ambit of this central scheme. Accordingly, it has begun distributing free uniforms among the boy students in government schools who belong to the APL category and also to all students, irrespective of their gender and economic classification of families, in the aided schools.

While launching the programme in 2013-14, the government empanelled eight leading companies that were capable of distributing superior-quality uniform materials. These eight companies were also allotted different districts for uniform distribution. They, however, were unable to complete the uniform distribution in a time-bound manner, prompting the government to hand over the allowance for purchasing the uniform materials directly to the respective schools.

The allowance per set of uniforms was pegged at Rs.400 at that time. The government that came to power in Kerala during 2016-17 decided to introduce school uniforms made of handloom materials and thus entrusted the handloom cooperative societies that function under the State Industries Department with the distribution of uniforms. The move envisioned the distribution of superior-quality uniform materials in schools while also ensuring a sustainable source of income and employment to the family of workers in the handloom sector. As many as 6200 workers under 301 handloom cooperative societies are currently engaged in the preparation of school uniforms for around 9.32 lakh students in the state.

This novel scheme, introduced by Kerala, is yet to be launched in any other state. The handloom uniform was first distributed in the 2017-18 academic year. The scheme was limited to the Government Lower Primary schools in the first phase and benefited about 2.5 lakh pupils. The scheme was extended to the UP schools the next academic year, taking the total number of beneficiaries to 4.5 lakh students. The Lower primary schools in the government-aided sector were brought under the scheme and since 19-20, this scheme has been benefiting about 9.5 lakh students. When the central and state schemes are taken together, the free uniform programme benefits a whopping 24 lakh students from classes 1 to 8 in the state. Of this, 9.32 lakh are being given handloom uniforms while the uniform allowance for the remaining 15 lakh students is allotted to the respective schools directly.

While the uniform allowance per student remains at Rs.600, the state government is spending Rs.1200 per student for procuring handloom uniforms. From the six academic years since 2017, the state government has expended a whopping Rs. 440 crores on handloom uniforms. This year it has distributed handloom uniforms to 9.32 lakh students including 475242 girls and 457656 boys prior to the school reopening. That this government has been able to complete the distribution of school uniforms along with that of textbooks to the school students is indeed a proud moment for it.