“Dozens” of children have been sent home from school because their parents cannot afford uniforms, according to Sheelagh Cooper of the Coalition for the Protection of Children.

“Last week was a tough one for parents of school-aged children,” Ms Cooper said of the switch from summer to winter uniforms.

“The costs of sweaters, blazers and winter pants places an additional burden on already struggling parents.”

The community support charity is under so much demand for assistance with uniforms that it is struggling to meet people’s needs.

Ms Cooper said that the Coalition had been visited last week by three different mothers on a single day, who were accompanied by their out-of-school sons and seeking help in purchasing uniforms.

She called on public school authorities to come up with more standardised uniforms, as the existing dress code could make it difficult to reuse items.

“While some of the second-hand stores do stock various parts of the school uniforms, one of the major stumbling blocks is the fact that schools vary considerably in the nature of the uniforms,” she said. “Many have uniforms that are specific to the individual school. This can include school-specific track suits and gym clothes as well.”

Elaborately school-specific uniforms cut down on reuse, and also raise costs by reducing the chance of bulk ordering, she said.

Ms Cooper recalled that in years gone by, “plain white shirts were the norm and crossed all school lines, and because of the bulk buying were considerably less expensive”.

Schools were differentiated mainly by their school ties, she added.

“The net effect of these expenses is to marginalise children who continue to be sent home from school at each change of uniform because parents are unable to keep up to the increased cost.

“One of the primary advantages of the school uniform policy is that it is intended to create a level playing field so that children whose parents can afford expensive clothes remain on par with those who are less advantaged.

“Unfortunately, as our economic situation continues to be a source of stress for many people, this policy becomes a detriment rather than an advantage when children are sent home.”

Ms Cooper called on parent teacher associations, principals and the Department of Education to “put their heads together” on creative ways around the problem.

“As a beginning point, perhaps they could consider going back to a plain white shirt, making the school tie the distinguishing feature,” she added. “Perhaps also consider opening up the option of wearing either khaki or grey, long or short pants acceptable.

“Both of these would cut costs while increasing the transferability from school to school in the second-hand market.”

The Coalition gathers uniforms for families in need each September and November, Ms Cooper said, as well as providing funds for their purchase.

“While this service used to be a small part of our budget, it continues to grow and at the current rate it cannot continue to be sustained,” she added.

“We are hopeful that there will emerge some creative solution to this problem for the sake of the children who suffer the shame of being sent home without the proper uniform.”

• The Coalition is open to “creative suggestions”, e-mail cpc@ibl.bm