Back to school blues
As children head back to school, Reem Nafie finds that parents are having a hard time handling the costs
From vacations to education, parental expenditures can often seem endless, especially when summer turns to fall and it's time for children to head back to school. With many a budget already overwhelmed by the summer holidays, "back to school" often means parents' wallets are at their breaking point.
The goal is to have everything in order -- meaning both official school fees paid and the accompanying accessories bought -- before next Saturday, the official start date for the fall term.
With the cost of keeping children enrolled in school and outfitted properly rising dramatically, parents' complaints have also been getting louder. One angry parent told Al-Ahram Weekly that, "the prices make you regret having children, and having to worry about schools, pencils, copybooks, pens, and bags."
Essam Sabah, a porter whose daughter is enrolled in a public school, had to pay LE45 in school fees this year, a significant increase from last year's LE32 fee. "It's not just the school fees," Sabah said, "It's everything -- the uniform, the bags, the books. It's very difficult for us to cope with the rise in prices."
Sabah and his family, like other lower income families, are feeling the brunt of the cost increases despite the fact that their children are entitled to "free education". According to Sabah, "we expect the government to help in some way, not increase the costs. I only eat meat once a week and I try to save at least LE20 every month, because I want my daughter Rania to be educated and have a better life."
Even those with higher incomes seem to be having similar problems, albeit at a different level. Hazem Mohamed, a businessman who sends his son to an American school in Maadi, says that just because he pays $5,000 a year for his son's education, does not mean that, "I don't have any problems. My wife and I both work and I have a second job at night. We try not to overspend and have sacrificed a lot of luxuries like trips and outings that we used to go on before we had our son Youssef."
Parents also spoke of other agonies that arise this time of year. "When I see my daughter crying for a Barbie bag that costs LE250, and I know I can't afford it," said Hala Hamdy, mother of an eight-year-old, "of course I'm hurt, but I can't spend that much money on a bag, because there are still so many other things to buy."
Nahed Salah, a doctor and mother of three, described paying for her children's education as "a never-ending cycle -- as the school year begins we pay all the fees needed to get the children into school, then we spend the rest of the year saving up for next year."
Many parents have merely resigned themselves to their fate. "What am I supposed to do?" wondered Inas Selim. "Not send my kids to school?"
