Friday, August 25, 2006
The Dreaded 'Back to School'
Kids all over the world will be preparing to go back to school over the next few weeks - some with excitement, others with trepidation - but for many parents, the event often fills them with dread over the rising cost of the operation. Much more so if they have have more than one child of school age.
It's estimated, adding up the cost of text books, other materials and clothing that the average expenditure, per student in the Canaries, is 800 euros (c. £540).
In the Canary Islands, infant and primary children start the new school year on September 7th. Though parents have had the list of text books and materials for the new course since July, the president of the Tenerife Island Federation of Parents' Associations, Pura Toste, believes that stores and commercial centers could do more to make the items available over a longer period of time.
Parents associations are also putting forward the proposal that schools request the materials each term, rather than annually, because many families cannot manage an expenditure of this size in one single month.
La temida ´vuelta al cole´
