The Ministry of Education is reviewing a plan to conduct a full survey of uniform costs at schools nationwide. The move follows President Lee Jae-myung's recent remarks pointing to the surging cost of buying school uniforms and directing officials to come up with measures.
According to the Ministry of Education on the 20th, a meeting on "ministerial response plans related to the school uniform system," chaired by the Vice Minister, was convened that afternoon at the Government Complex Sejong. In addition to the Ministry of Education, five ministries participated in the meeting, including the Ministry of Finance and Economy, the Ministry of Planning and Budget, the Korea Fair Trade Commission, and the Ministry of SMEs and Startups.
An official at the Ministry of Education said, "We are reviewing a plan to conduct a full survey of education costs by school through the 17 metropolitan and provincial offices of education." In connection with this, a plan for the Ministry of Education and the metropolitan and provincial offices of education to hold a related meeting on the 23rd is also under discussion.
At a senior secretaries' meeting on the 12th, the president said, "The recent cost of buying school uniforms is nearing 600,000 won," and called for countermeasures. Minister Choi Kyo-jin of the Ministry of Education said on the 19th via the minister's social networking service (SNS), "We will look into whether there were any collusive or unfair practices by vendors and consider various alternatives, including rationalizing prices by revitalizing cooperatives."