New school year brings inflated bills for parents

Prices of textbooks, uniforms, van and school fees hiked


Qaiser Shirazi March 04, 2019
PHOTO: EXPRESS/FILE

RAWALPINDI: As the new school year begins, prices of textbooks have soared in the garrison city, with an average of Rs175 increase in the cost of a textbook for each subject.

In all English medium schools, the cost of an Islamic studies textbook for primary classes has increased by 30 per cent. Textbooks for Urdu, Mathematics and English have been increased to as much as Rs450 this year, up from Rs300 last year.

Further, the cost of stationery items such as registers, copies, pouches and school bags have also jumped by 50 per cent to 100 per cent.  Moreover, a normal copybook now costs around Rs50 while a medium-sized copy is being sold for Rs75. This is Rs30 more than their old price.

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Meanwhile, the cost of a large-sized copy book has increased from Rs80 to Rs120.

A register’s price has increased to Rs175 while the cost of other stationary items such as pencils, rubbers, compasses and pouches have doubled in some instances.

Further, the cost of small uniform trouser has increased from Rs500 Rs1,000.

A uniform shirt has jumped from Rs300 to Rs400. A pair of socks now costs Rs150 while the price of school shoes have soared from Rs700 to Rs2,500.

School blazers now cost Rs1,200 while caps have jumped from Rs75 to Rs100.

Schools have also started demanding an additional Rs1,000 in their school fee slips apart from a hike of Rs300 per student in monthly fees.

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Schools are also seeking R2,500 as admission fees as well.

To maximize their profit, private schools have banned the purchase purchasing of textbooks, copy books and uniforms from the market. Instead, parents have been bound to either purchase them from the school or from their designated stores where the price of these items 25 per cent more than the market rate.

Furthermore, schools are charging a further Rs300 under the head of security arrangements such as installation and maintenance of closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras and other security arrangements.

Moreover, transporters have also decided to increase their monthly fees by Rs300.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 4th, 2019.

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