Back to school is here and it is expected to be the most expensive in the last 20 years. The general rise in prices, with inflation reaching 10.4% in Spain in August, has meant that basic school products have doubled their cost compared to previous years. Textbooks and stationery products are at the forefront, becoming 4.1% more expensive than the previous year and which, in the opinion of Antonio Gallardo, an expert at the Banqmi financial portal, could reach up to 6% . Textiles, such as footwear or school uniforms, are in second position, with inflation reaching between 4.9 and 5.5%, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE). This means that many families will pay an average of 405.05 euros per student this year, which represents an increase of 4.7% compared to what they had to pay last year (386.76 euros), taking into account the latest study conducted by Banqmi.
Goodbye to book recycling
The entry into force of the new educational law, the LOMLOE, has caused families to have to buy new manuals that adapt to what the regulations demand, which will make it difficult for members of the same family to “recycle books”. Given this, many public centers, which are the ones that decide which books parents have to buy, are choosing the cheapest. In addition, some autonomous communities have not yet published the curriculum decrees, so many families still do not know exactly which manuals they will have to buy for this course. However, the rise in prices for these products also occurs in even Primary and Secondary courses, in which the new texts will not apply. This increase is due to the fact that the price of paper has risen above the IPC, with a total of 21.3%. To the books are added the notebooks, agendas and all kinds of products that include this material. Along with them, spending on pens, markers or pencils has also increased to about 20 cents per pack of products, so ‘filling’ the case this year may cost around two euros more than last year.
Uniforms and transportation services, also on the rise
The rise in textile prices will have a direct impact on those schools where uniforms are necessary, mostly private or concerted. In addition, those sold by the centers themselves as financing have risen more than those sold in external stores, Gallardo points out. “Buying a uniform in a school is, on average, 16.18% more expensive than doing it in a clothing store, that is, it would go from paying 238.57 euros to paying 205.35 euros on average”, says the expert. But the uniforms are not the only textile materials that increase their price, the purchase of footwear to face the new course, especially for subjects such as Physical Education, has also increased by 5.5% compared to previous years. Transport services are other back-to-school basics that have been conditioned by inflation. The exorbitant price of fuel will mean that those families who use private vehicles to transport minors to school will see the price of consumption increase compared to previous years. For those who use public transport, the cost has also grown, but at a moderate 4.7% compared to the 8.4% that grew in other years such as 2008. To deal with this rise, the Government approved last In June, a 50% reduction in the price of multi-trip tickets for railway services provided by Renfe, as well as multi-trip tickets for state concessions for regular public transport services. For example, in the Community of Madrid, the monthly subscription for those under 26 years of age will go from costing 20 euros to 10.
Primary, the cycle in which prices rise the most
With regard to the distribution of the price increase by educational level, Primary is at the forefront of the cost increase, with an expenditure of 5.42% more than last year on textbooks. The price of Secondary Education has increased by 4.9% and if we take into account the total sum of reimbursement for materials such as books, ESO is the most expensive cycle with an average cost of 260.18 euros. This is mainly due to the fact that at this stage the number of specialized subjects increases compared to Primary. For example, Life Sciences branches into Biology and Geology and Physics and Chemistry. Infant is the educational level that presents the lowest increase in price: 3.77% more than last year. One of the reasons that explains these figures is that more and more teachers of this cycle choose not to work with manuals but with other materials such as cards or with playful dynamics far removed from traditional textbooks.