MUMBAI: Taking cognisance of the growing opposition to the ‘One State One Uniform’ scheme, the state’s school education department on Wednesday issued an order scrapping it. School management committees have now regained their authority to choose the colour and design of school uniforms, a change that will be applicable from the academic year 2025-26.
The centralised scheme, unveiled in May 2023, aimed to standardise uniforms across all government schools in the state. However, it was riddled with problems and plagued by delays since its inception. In the academic year 2024-25, when it was finally implemented properly, there were widespread delays and inefficiencies in the uniform distribution process, leaving approximately 32 lakh students without their second set of uniforms till the end of December.
Under the Central Government’s Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), all girls studying in government and local government schools from Class 1 to Class 8, children belonging to the scheduled caste and scheduled tribe categories and children of parents below the poverty line are given the benefit of the free uniform scheme.
After the backlash following the changed uniform policy, the state government on December 20, 2024 issued a government resolution which stated that from 2025-26, school management committees would distribute uniforms as per the colour and design decided by the state government. However, given its subpar performance and in the face of continuing demands from parents, teachers and education activists, the government has finally relented and withdrawn altogether by issuing the GR handing back authority to the school management committees.
Parents, teachers’ associations and activists have welcomed the decision. “The move to let the colour and design of uniforms be decided once more at the local level by school management committees is gratifying,” said Nitin Memane, vice-president of the Purandar Taluka Primary Teachers’ Association, Pune. “In cases where decisions need to be taken at the local level for quality improvement, decentralisation of decision-making is a must.”
Tushar Shevale, school management committee member of a Shahapur-based school pointed out the shoddy job done by the government. “According to its own regulations, the fabric of uniforms should not be 100 percent polyester but they still distributed polyester uniforms,” he said. “Additionally, most of the students received their uniform in early January, and some are yet to receive it.”
This is the second decision of earlier education minister Deepak Kesarkar to be scrapped by the current government. “All this is because of the government’s muddled thought process,” said education activist Bhausaheb Chaskar. “Add to that the stubbornness to stick to the decision, which was very troublesome for everyone, including children, parents, teachers and officials. It created chaos. Teachers had to face the displeasure of students and parents. We hope the government has learned an appropriate lesson and does not take such decisions in future.”
Prakash Pawar, secretary of the Solapur Uniform Garment Manufacturers Association (SUGMA), which used to supply uniforms to many schools under the decentralised scheme but was sidelined when the government moved to the centralised scheme, expressed relief at the decision. “On behalf of the SUGMA, I warmly welcome this decision,” he said. “It will ensure that government school students receive timely and comfortable uniforms, and it will also provide employment opportunities to more than 10,000 workers in the state.”