School uniforms are important and won't be scrapped, Education Minister Jeremy Miles said as he announced a consultation on logos and cost.
But he admitted uniforms are still too expensive in some schools. He questioned the need for logos on school sports wear, said schools could look at cost effective uniform suppliers, offer free iron on logos and help with uniform recycling.
Asked whether school uniform should be scrapped altogether he said: "I believe school uniform very much still has a place in schools. I think they are important in terms of school ethos and sense of cohesion and play an important role in reducing inequalities."
Read more: School uniform grant raised by £100 in Wales to help with cost of living crisis
Mr Miles insisted "school uniforms play an important role in the life of schools", but admitted they were too expensive in some cases: "Despite best efforts of a lot of schools to address the costs to parents, there are still examples where that's not happening."
The minister said he wants to hear from families and schools what their views are on uniforms and urged them to take part in the school uniform consultation, which runs for six weeks, rather than the usual 12 in order to more quickly address the cost pressures of sending children to school.
Ditching school uniform logos for maintained schools in Wales is one of the options. Former Education Minister Kirsty Williams first mooted the idea to ease financial pressure on parents.
The new consultation opening today will ask people their views, including having free iron on logos, or none. Current Welsh Government guidance advises limiting logos to one item of clothing.
The consultation will seek opinions on a variety of proposals relating to school uniform to update the statutory guidance and to further support families through the cost-of-living crisis and make uniforms more affordable. Options to be considered include the use of school branding and whether schools should have no logo at all, or use ‘iron on logos' to be made available free of charge.
The average cost of school uniform is £337 for secondary and £315 for primary school pupils, according to a Children's Society survey earlier this year. Grants are also available for low income families in Wales to help with the cost of uniform and kit and that has been increased this year to recognise the pressure of the cost of living crisis.
Do children have to wear school uniform at maintained schools in Wales?
There is no education legislation specifically covering the wearing of school uniform or other aspects of appearance such as hair colour and style and wearing jewellery or makeup. But school governing bodies can specify a uniform which pupils are required to wear and other rules relating to appearance, as part of school rules children must follow.
The Welsh Government provides statutory guidance to schools and governing bodies on school uniform and appearance policies. Governing bodies are expected to have regard for the Welsh Government statutory guidance when implementing or changing a school uniform and appearance policy.
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