{"id":44131,"date":"2015-11-23T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2015-11-23T04:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=44131"},"modified":"2015-11-23T02:08:34","modified_gmt":"2015-11-23T06:08:34","slug":"distributing-cash-vouchers-instead-of-free-school-uniforms-will-cause-new-set-of-problems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=44131","title":{"rendered":"Distributing Cash Vouchers Instead of Free School Uniforms will cause new set of Problems"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Udaya P. Gammanpila<\/strong><\/p>\n

The late President R. Premadasa introduced the free distribution of school uniforms to ensure that poor children would not avoid schooling because of the non-availability of uniforms. Although governments changed several times, nobody stopped this vital project which has immensely contributed to keep Sri Lanka’s literacy rate above the world average.<\/p>\n

The United National Party (UNP) government in 2002, considered the distribution of school uniform clothes as a time consuming and tedious task. It found that the process of calling for tenders to distribute school uniforms was totally unnecessary. Hence, it introduced a cash voucher to replace uniform clothes. The value of the voucher depended on the required size of the material and its cost in the market. After the distribution of vouchers to parents, a set of new problems cropped up.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Parents had to visit the bank to get the voucher cashed on a working day. Office workers can obtain full day or half day leave depending on the distance to the bank. However, daily wage workers and small scale self-employees had to sacrifice a day’s income to cash the voucher. For them, a day’s income was crucial for their survival. Hence, they were reluctant to sacrifice it to obtain some cash lesser than the daily income. As a result, the voucher method denied school uniforms for poor schoolchildren who were the most deserved to receive free uniforms.<\/p>\n

New uniforms<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the past, schoolchildren returned home on the last schooling day of the year with clothes for uniforms. The clothes were in the custody of the children until those were converted to shirts and frocks by the mother. They pushed the mother to stitch the uniforms with the clothes received by them as they wanted to see the new uniforms at their earliest. Hence, there was no opportunity for misusing the clothes. I have never heard of an incident where a father sold uniform clothes to consume liquor. Nobody came forward to purchase the clothes by hurting a little child. Further, there was no market for such clothes as every child received uniform clothes.<\/p>\n

When parents receive cash instead of clothes under the voucher method, a father may be inclined to visit the nearest wine shop. Even the mother may be compelled to purchase essentials for the household using the cash received for the voucher. In the end, children will be disappointed without uniforms for the New Year. Hence, the government will not realize the objective of issuing the vouchers, ie., providing uniforms for schooling children.<\/p>\n

Through vouchers, parents purchase uniform clothes in the open market. There is no standard and as a result there would be no quality assurance. As vendors know the budget of the parents in advance they may increase the price of inferior quality materials to match the amount. Hence, the children will be reluctantly compelled to wear inferior uniforms for long hours. Further, uniforms would be discoloured and worn away easily.<\/p>\n

Voucher method<\/strong><\/p>\n

Prime Minister Wickremasinghe realized the failure of the voucher method in the first year itself and reverted to the earlier method of distributing uniform clothes. Thereafter, every government implemented same program without a break. President Rajapaksa’s regime introduced revolutionary improvements to the school uniform programme in 2006.<\/p>\n

In 2006, the government advised cloth suppliers to import the material so that it could be dyed in blue and saffron colours with a view to saving foreign exchange. On the other hand, it resulted in generating employment opportunities and adoption of new technology. In 2007, the government took another step forward by advising the suppliers to weave the clothes domestically with imported raw materials. In that year, the suppliers manufactured 10 per cent of the requirements in Sri Lanka. For the balance 90 per cent, they dyed the imported clothes. After gradually increasing the local production, the suppliers produced the entire textile requirements for uniforms in 2013.<\/p>\n

Because of the local production, 60 per cent of the selling price came down. The suppliers spent only 40 per cent for the imported materials spending foreign exchange. In 2013, when the government spent Rs 1,800 m for school uniforms, Rs 1,100 m was saved. Further, the newly established industry generated employment opportunities for more than 3,000 employees.<\/p>\n

Local manufacturers<\/strong><\/p>\n

The local manufacturers exclusively produced clothes for school uniforms every year. The government called for tenders for school uniforms in January in every year. Suppliers submitted their prices along with textile samples and their production capacity figures. The samples submitted by the suppliers were tested to maintain quality standards at the Sri Lanka Institute for Textile and Apparel. If the sample was acceptable, the Domestic Textile Allocation Committee headed by the Secretary to the Ministry of Industries allocated quotas among the suppliers depending on their capacity and price.<\/p>\n

The Ministry of Education did not call for tenders in January this year. It was postponed until 25 May with an ulterior motive. Further, the ministry decided to call open tenders instead of calling tenders exclusively from local manufacturers. As a result, suppliers can now supply imported textiles instead of locally produced materials.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, there is a huge gap between promises and the delivery causing intolerable frustration among the people. People are now fed up with promises and fairytales. What they need is action on the ground instead of juicy speeches on the stage.<\/p>\n

Courtesy:Ceylon Today<\/em><\/p>\n

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By Udaya P. Gammanpila The late President R. Premadasa introduced the free distribution of school uniforms to ensure that poor children would not avoid schooling because of the non-availability of uniforms. Although governments changed several times, nobody stopped this vital project which has immensely contributed to keep Sri Lanka’s literacy rate above the world average. …<\/p>\n

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