Maharashtra to provide shoes, socks along with uniforms for children in government schools

Spokesperson for the Maharashtra School principals association, Mahendra Ganpule, said, “The GR brings clarity on the uniform policy.

While one set of uniform is already given by the SMC, the new GR allots additional funds for the second uniform too, along with shoes and socks. Until now, in government run Zilla Parishad (ZP) schools, all girls were provided uniforms. In case of boys, only those coming from reserved categories and those falling below poverty line were covered under this. Now all children will benefit from the service.”

The state’s school education department in April took the decision of having a new standardised uniform for all students in government-run schools, for classes 1 to 8. But before this was finalised, the SMC uniforms were ready, as per the prevalent practice. This led to a new announcement by the government that SMC will provide one set of uniforms and the state will provide another set which will be used for ‘scout and guide’ subjects. As per the new GR, the second set of uniforms will also be provided by the SMC now.

However, looking at the cost per student (Rs.170) allotted for a set of shoes along with two sets of socks, few teachers have raised concerns on the quality of the product.