Parents hard hit by rising stationary cost

Parents hard hit by rising stationary cost
By Daniel Bardsley and Abbas Al Lawati, Staff Reporters /GULF NEWS Published: August 25, 2007, 00:24

Dubai: Many parents say they are finding it difficult to cope with the rising cost of uniforms, stationary, textbooks and all the other things they have to buy for their children every year.

Dr Elizabeth Thomas, 37, a veterinary surgeon from India with two daughters, Evana, eight, and Evita, seven, who both go to an Indian school in Sharjah, said increases in uniform prices had affected her the most.

She estimated that uniform prices had jumped about 10 to 15 per cent during the past 12 months.

"Over the year, the uniform prices have gone higher, there's no doubt," she told Gulf News.

"We get the uniforms from school and for the cost you pay, I certainly feel we could get better quality. Material wise, I could get a better shirt for the same price.

"The way things are now in the UAE, it's really difficult because it's not just the uniforms, it's everything."

Umm Ahmad, an Iraqi whose three children go to private Arabic schools, said uniform prices had gone up.

"Uniform prices have gone up about ten per cent, which is not bad considering that they were not expensive to start with," she said.

She named the rising cost of tuition fees as more of a headache, saying: "The salaries of many residents of the UAE stay the same while expenses such as this are on the rise. Tuition prices go up every year."

Armenia, an Indian whose 15-year-old daughter attends an Indian school in Sharjah, said textbook and writing book price rises had been heavy this year.

"Previously, I've never had to spend more than Dh200 on books, but this year it was Dh300. That is quite a big jump," she said.