With the return to school now imminent, families are dealing with the high cost of school. A real blow, which will put students of all levels in difficulty, effectively undermining one of the essential rights enshrined in the Italian Constitution: the right to education: just think that the expense for books alone, more than 500 euros per student, will absorb about a third of the salary of an average worker. According to Condacons, increases of up to 15% are expected on books and materials and the expense per student will rise to about 1,300 euros. For each student – as certified by the Federconsumatori National Observatory (Onf) – an average of 647.00 euros will be spent on school supplies (+6.6% compared to 2023) and 591.44 euros on books (+18% compared to 2023). The most expensive items are confirmed to be those related to the backpack, especially if you choose the trolley versions, to avoid carrying weights on your back, and hi-tech, with integrated power bank to recharge devices (200 euros), and textbooks: 591.44 euros, as we said, for the mandatory texts and two dictionaries, with an increase of 18% compared to last year. And if the prices of diaries reach up to 35 euros, for a pencil case equipped with pens, pencils, eraser and markers it goes up to 60.
The costs are particularly high for first year students: a student starting middle school will spend an average of 461.81 for books and two dictionaries and 647 euros for school supplies and supplies during the year, for a total of 1,108.81 euros. A first-year high school student will spend 715.30 euros – books and four dictionaries – and 647 euros for the rest of the materials: 1,362.30 euros in total.
A nightmare, that of the high cost of books, which rears its head at the beginning of every year. Certainly there are some saving strategies, such as buying used textbooks that leads to a saving of 28%, but they are not enough. “These days all televisions are bombarding kids with advertisements aimed at purchases necessary for school. By not chasing trends, you could spend 40% less on your kit, buying products of identical quality”, warns Codacons. In any case, these are prohibitive amounts for many families, to which are added the even more expensive costs of purchasing a computer and the programs to use it: 413.44 euros including device, webcam, microphone, antivirus and basic programs, according to the Federconsumatori National Observatory.
Among the groups that are taking action, the Italian Parents Association A.Ge is launching a petition to obtain free textbooks for compulsory schooling and tax relief on the cost of textbooks for subsequent years: “Education must be a guaranteed right and free for all.”
