"Gwangju Middle and High School Uniform Bidding, Ongoing Suspicions of Company Collusion"

Twelve Schools Record Successful Bid Rates Above 90%
Gwangju Educational Civic Group Cites "Signs of Collusion Among Companies"

The photo is unrelated to the article (school uniform image = The Asia Business Daily DB)

This year, 12 middle and high schools in the Gwangju area recorded successful bid rates of 90% or higher in their school uniform tenders.

According to the report titled "Status of School Uniform Bidding for Gwangju Middle and High Schools for the 2026 Academic Year," released on the 23rd by the Gwangju-based educational civic group "Citizens' Coalition for an Educational System without School Ties" (Citizens' Coalition), there are 12 middle and high schools in Gwangju with successful bid rates of 90% or higher (8 high schools and 4 middle schools).

The successful bid rate is the ratio obtained by dividing the bid amount by the estimated price. The higher the rate, the closer the winning uniform price is to the estimated price set by the school. Among the schools with successful bid rates of 90% or higher, 10 are private and 2 are public, and in the case of High School A, which had the highest successful bid rate, it reached 98.651%.

Middle School B, which is under the same foundation as High School A, also had a successful bid rate of 98.493%, and the difference between the bid amounts of the first- and second-ranked companies that participated in the tenders for these schools was only 2,000 won.

The Citizens' Coalition believes that the fact that the uniform prices were awarded at more than 90% of the estimated price means that there was virtually no competition among companies in the school uniform bidding process.

The group demanded that the Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education conduct a full-scale investigation of uniform tenders and impose criminal charges and sanctions as disqualified vendors on companies engaged in collusion.

A representative of the Citizens' Coalition pointed out, "There are indications that companies are divvying up schools among themselves," adding, "Because there is almost no bidding competition, even if companies propose high prices close to the estimated price, schools still have no other choice but to accept them under the current system."