PARENTS are spending between £200 to £250 per child on clothes and school supplies as students prepare for the new school year.
The most expensive items to purchase are clothes, with shoes alone costing up to £50 or £60 per pair. While some pieces of clothing may be reused, usually children outgrow their previous year’s outfit.
School dresses cost from £10-15, while pants run from £12-20. A pullover costs from £15-22. School shoes cost between £15-60.
President of the Parents Association Elias Demetriou said that for a middle class family the costs to parents total £200-250 per student. He said that the costs could run even higher if parents purchase expensive items like £60 pairs of shoes.
Demetriou offered four pieces of advice to parents to keep their pre-school costs down:
“First, parents should carefully search the market to find not only quality goods but also cheap ones.
“Second, be wary of discounts because they are often deceptive. For example they may offer you something at a cheap price as long as you buy 50 notebooks. What are you going to do with 50 notebooks?
“Third, don’t give in to every demand that your child makes, because stores are full of temptations for children. Parents have to be firm.
“Fourth, don’t get swept up in a competition to match the purchases that other parents are making. If another parent gets a bag for £80, there’s no need for you to also spend the same on one. It’s only going to last for one year and then get thrown away.”
One parent told the Cyprus Mail that she spends £120 on her 14-year old son for three pants, five white shirts, and three shirts. Two pairs of shoes for him cost her £70 and a backpack, pens, notebooks, and pencil-boxes cost about £60.
“It would be even more expensive if he attended a private school. At private schools they have to buy their own textbooks. At public schools the textbooks are provided for free.”
She said the costs could vary tremendously, depending on the whims of the children. “You can find backpacks anywhere from 5 to 50 pounds. And you can get a pencil-box for one pound or £10. It all depends on what crazy stuff the kid wants.”
Stores aisles are currently lined with backpacks, notebooks and pencil cases of Barbie and Spiderman, favourites among young girls and boys.
Another parent said she spends little on school supplies. “I have two boys, which are three years apart. The younger one gets hand-me-downs from the older one, who in turn gets hand-me-downs from his cousin.”
But she said that sometimes the hand-me-downs are not enough, because they are out of fashion. “Even though kids wear uniforms, it doesn’t mean there is no fashion in school clothes. I had to recently buy my son a pair of ‘cool grey pants’ at Victaur’s [a specialty shop for school uniforms]. The style was ‘jean cut’”.
“Elementary school is the easiest for parents when it comes to buying clothes. In winter the kids can wear grey sweatpants and grey sweatshirts, while in the summer they wear grey shorts and a white shirt.”
Consumer Association president Petros Markou told Cyprus Mail that buyers should beware as stores often advertise discounts that they do not offer:
“Our position is that parents should look at the market, carefully examine all offers and read all of the fine print. Visit other stores and compare prices and quality.”
Markou advised parents to also exercise restraint since there are many school-related items on sale that are ultimately unnecessary. He also said that name brands can double or triple prices, so parents can save a great deal of money without sacrificing quality by going with no-name brands.
“You can buy shoes that come from China.”
