Subsidies Cover 300,000 Won but Total Tops 600,000 Won... Government Urges Shift to Comfortable, Not Suit-Style, Uniforms

The government has decided to overhaul the current structure in which parents have to pay additional school uniform costs even after receiving subsidies, by encouraging the abolition of low-usage, suit-style uniforms and a transition to daily-wear uniforms. In addition, to reexamine the appropriateness of school uniform prices from scratch, it will launch a comprehensive survey of all schools nationwide, and raise the maximum administrative fine for illegal tuition hikes at private academies to 10 million won in order to prevent backdoor increases in academy fees. This comes as the government ramps up all-out pressure to stabilize prices after President Lee Jaemyung recently ordered countermeasures, citing excessively high school uniform prices.

As education authorities have launched a nationwide survey of school uniform costs to correct pricing, a parent who visited Nanum Gyobok Maejang in Songpa-gu, Seoul ? which receives uniform donations from local schools and alumni and sells them at low prices to residents in need ? is inspecting uniforms. Yonhap News

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The Ministry of Education and other relevant ministries announced these measures, titled "Plans to Improve and Strengthen the Management of School Uniform Prices and Private Academy Fees," at the "Task Force on Special Management of Cost of Living" held on the 26th. A Ministry of Education official explained, "We aim to redesign the structure so that, by phasing out suit-style uniforms that have been reduced to attire for ceremonies such as entrance and graduation, and shifting to 'comfortable uniforms' such as daily-wear uniforms and gym uniforms, everything can be covered within the current scale of school uniform subsidies without any additional out-of-pocket expenses."

According to the Ministry of Education, since 2015 it has operated a price ceiling through the "school-led purchasing system," under which schools select suppliers via bidding. As of this year, the ceiling price is 344,530 won, frozen at last year's level. Each metropolitan and provincial office of education and local government provides support for school uniform costs of around 300,000 won, either in kind or in the form of vouchers.

The government has launched sweeping measures to reduce the burden of school uniform costs. The photo shows the Nanum School Uniform Store in Songpa-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap

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However, dissatisfaction with school uniform prices has continued in the field. In reality, when factoring in the daily-wear uniform that is worn more frequently in practice (about 160,000 won per set), the gym uniform (about 110,000 won per set), and extra shirts (around 50,000 won), parents effectively have to shoulder an additional burden of around 300,000 won. The "600,000 won for uniforms" figure mentioned by the President is therefore accurate when taking into account suit-style uniforms, daily-wear uniforms, and gym uniforms altogether.

However, the Ministry of Education cannot unilaterally impose a specific type of uniform. Decisions on uniforms fall under "school discretion," as they must be reflected in school regulations after collecting opinions from each school’s steering committee, parents, and students. The government plans to work with metropolitan and provincial offices of education to recommend a shift toward daily-wear uniforms at schools, and to gradually expand a system in which uniform subsidies are not tied to a specific item such as suit-style uniforms but can be used flexibly through vouchers and similar means.

The government will not stop at merely changing uniform types, but will also intervene across the entire process of price formation. Through a comprehensive survey of approximately 5,700 middle and high schools nationwide, it plans to determine whether school uniform prices are appropriate and to set item-specific price ceilings, including for daily-wear uniforms.

Alongside this, it will improve the "school-led purchasing system." To change a market environment dominated by large brands, it will grant extra points in bidding to small business owners and producer cooperatives, and provide joint brand consulting. It will also respond strongly, in cooperation with the Korea Fair Trade Commission, to unfair trade practices such as bid rigging, which has been identified as one of the causes of inflated prices, and will apply a zero-tolerance policy, including referring cases for criminal investigation when detected.

The government will also significantly strengthen oversight of private academy fees, another major financial burden on parents alongside uniform costs. It will conduct special inspections to prevent backdoor tuition hikes through excessive collection of so-called "other expenses," such as mock exam fees and material costs, in addition to official tuition. To ensure effective sanctions, it plans to sharply raise the upper limit of administrative fines from the current 3 million won to 10 million won, and to introduce a new surcharge system to claw back unjust gains.

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