Back to School Concerns: Parents Struggle with Rising Costs of School Supplies
As the new school year approaches, parents are growing increasingly perplexed and worried about the cost of school supplies, as prices continue to rise and add to other periods of high consumption. Following the summer season and the additional expenses incurred by families for leisure, weddings, and events, parents are faced with other annual expenses that cannot be ignored or boycotted. In statements to "Jawhara FM", a number of parents expressed their dissatisfaction with the high cost of school supplies, the loss of subsidized notebooks, and the necessities of back to school. Some of them called for the need to monitor bookstores that practice conditional sales, to intensify surveillance campaigns, and to apply the law against speculation and monopolies. They stated that the prices, which increase year after year, impose a burden on them, especially since the purchasing power of citizens has decreased. Some parents indicated that they have only bought part of these tools, especially for those who have two or more children in school. They confirmed that expenses continue throughout the year, in addition to registration fees, private lessons, clothing, transportation, and other expenses. Others questioned the concept of free education in Tunisia, in light of the excessive and continuous increase in back to school expenses in public schools.
