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Khalil Al-Absi: Schools burden families with many ‘luxuries’
Muhammad Al-Uqla: There is a great demand for purchasing learning tools
Muhammad Al-Darwish: Private school demands exhaust parents
With the start of the back-to-school season as families and students prepare to return to school early after the summer holidays, sales of stationery and school supplies have increased significantly, with the country’s libraries and stationery stores preparing a wide range of products suitable for all different age groups early this year.
While families are keen to equip their children with everything they need during this period, parents are complaining about the high prices of bags, stationery items during the back-to-school season and the huge price disparity between stores, demanding tighter policies to control libraries and stores selling school supplies, which often increase prices.
They expressed dissatisfaction with the high cost of providing demand despite mediocre quality, which requires strict supervision to stop its funding leakage, especially when coupled with private school tuition fees, uniform fees and school transport costs, as the high prices have prompted some families to bring their school needs from the countries where they spend their summer vacations, with some of them exceeding 40% due to price differences.
Tighter regulation
Umm Nour, a mother of three children attending primary school, confirmed that there is a big difference in the price of stationery between commercial stores, which prompted her to take summer vacations from abroad to bring her children the necessary supplies for school. The Consumer Protection Department has stepped up control over stores and held them accountable for the increased prices compared to other markets.
Ms. Afaf “Umm Ibrahim” agreed, saying that she asked the authorities to reduce the prices of stationery, school bags and supplies to a total of not less than 600 riyals per child, noting that the cost of a school bag for a primary school student is estimated to be around 200 riyals, apart from which other school supplies include pens, notebooks, pencil cases, water bottles, food preservation supplies, etc.
Raed Al-Masry said that despite promotional offers, the prices of stationery and school supplies have been steadily increasing, explaining that last year he bought children’s school bags from the country because the prices were lower, and this year he brought his bags, notebooks, pens and everything needed for school.
He added: The price of a school bag ranges from 150 to 350, excluding the small packets of stationery and food, the total cost reaches 400, and the quality and quality of the products available in the market vary according to the difference in price.
Excessive spending
Mohammed Darwish called on the Ministry of Education and Higher Education to address the phenomenon of turning school supplies into a seasonal trade, from which private schools profit in addition to inflating tuition fees.
He pointed out that the pressure and exaggerated requirements of private schools are not limited to school uniforms, but also extend to the determination of the number and color of pens and notebooks, noting that many of them are overly exaggerated and put a huge burden on parents.
Consumer Protection
For his part, Khalil Al-Absi, an economic and financial expert, called for cooperation and unity among the various political parties in the state to identify the factors that have led to the increase in tuition fees and the price of office supplies, which has placed a burden on families, including the supervision of consumer protection in libraries and stationery stores, especially when schools burden families with many needs and luxuries, explaining that families should buy based on quality rather than brand names, which does not mean buying cheap things. He stressed that all factors that have led to price increases and drained the budgets of families and households should be addressed with practical and feasible solutions, correctly and thoughtfully.
Cartoon Characters
Heba Nazim Abdel Rahman, mother of two students in the seventh and fifth grades, said that vendors provide primary school students with supplies inspired by cartoon characters and wrestling champions, with high prices and low quality, with a school bag costing up to $300. The sale of rials in some shops and bookstores takes advantage of the fact that the group that benefits from it is young people who are easy to attract.
She explained that shoes, stationery and bags needed for students to go back to school are in high demand these days, as store owners creatively display and promote these items to profit from the season. Some families are forced to buy relatively low-quality bags and school supplies due to the company’s high prices. Every year, manufacturers launch new shapes with images of famous characters, whether cartoon characters or football and wrestling champions. The system is in strong demand from parents and children.
Consumer protection associations and authorities have called for tighter controls during the back-to-school season, laws and fines for stores that manipulate prices, especially since the issue affects a large section of society.
Performance Season
Abdullah Mohammed confirmed that despite the end of the season of offers and discounts, the market still sees demand from the public to buy, especially in the areas displaying clothes, shoes, school supplies and stationery, in preparation for the start of the new school year. In all commercial complexes, he saw no change in prices, and he did not notice any difference between the prices during the discounts and offers and the prices now, because all offers are realistic. The purpose of false offers is only to make consumers add an additional burden on top of their actual consumption, including school supplies offers, stressing that the so-called seasonal offers are intended to attract customers, not to relieve their burden.
He explained that he is the father of four children at different stages of education and that the cost of supplies for one student ranges between 500 and 700 riyals, especially since some requirements that were once luxuries have now become necessities, noting that the purchase of school supplies has become a hassle for some families, especially those with more than two students, and therefore, these school supplies, no matter how expensive, she must provide them, on the one hand taking into account their needs and, on the other, so that the child does not feel inferior to his classmates.
He confirmed that he is working with his wife to create a budget for buying school supplies and he is also trying to encourage the children to save in advance so that they can buy their needs with their own pocket money with him. Get them used to the importance of saving in life, not just in school, but especially for annual occasions such as the holidays.
Important Seasons
Mr. Muhammad Al-Oqla, Director of the Library, said that the back-to-school season is one of the most important seasons of the year as students, parents and teachers tend to buy new school supplies to start the new academic year. He stressed that there is a high demand for special products during this season, including school bags and various stationery items. Handicrafts and household items are well-known in Qatar.
Al-Uqla confirmed that retail stores in Doha were very active due to the back-to-school season and the start of the holiday return of most citizens and residents, which helped increase demand for school supplies and various goods and significantly boosted sales by 3.5%.
He noted that the library is taking advantage of the back-to-school season to offer special products of the season across its six branches, providing teachers and students with a host of needed products including backpacks, notebooks, notepads and pens at very affordable prices that are accessible to everyone.
He stressed that all the pieces displayed at the Al Rawnaq branch are carefully designed. Therefore, we invite and encourage all parents and students to visit the store and explore the special offers for the back-to-school season, all of which are designed to enhance the educational journey with the harmony of modernity and practicality.
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