School supplies rise in price by 10 per cent in Azerbaijan

With just eight days remaining until the start of the school year, parents and students in Azerbaijan are feeling the pinch as they prepare for the return to classrooms. Unlike previous years, the bustling school fairs that typically spring up in front of metro stations in Baku have been conspicuously absent. Today, these fairs can only be found in a few locations in the Absheron district, which surrounds Baku.

For families, the cost of essential school supplies is a concern, with prices varying widely. School bags range from 17 to 100 Manats, while notebooks are priced between 0.15 to 1.5 Manats, depending on the number of sheets and their country of origin. Sellers at these fairs note that prices have increased by 5-10 percent compared to the previous year.

Parents report similar price hikes for school supplies in stores, with some goods experiencing up to a 10 percent increase. According to the Center for Economic and Social Development, school supply prices have risen by 9.8 percent compared to the previous year, primarily due to increases in the prices of imported products.

In contrast to certain European countries that provide assistance to primary school students for school supplies, Azerbaijan lacks a social assistance program for parents to help send their children to school. In Brussels, Belgium, elementary school students receive 110 euros worth of school supplies, while in Germany, parents of primary school students receive a one-time aid of 100 euros for school supplies.

Efforts to obtain a response from the Ministry of Science and Education regarding this issue were unsuccessful. However, MP Fazil Mustafa in an interview with Turan, suggested that the organization of school supply fairs should be facilitated at the municipal level. He pointed out that many countries, like Belgium and Germany, provide school supply assistance, recognizing the importance of education.

Economist Natig Jafarli argued that the impact of school fairs on prices has been limited, as there was little price difference between fairs and regular stores. He also noted in a commentary for Radio Azadlig that local production of school supplies is minimal, with most items imported from abroad. Jafarli emphasized the need for government concessions on taxes and customs to alleviate the financial burden on parents.

Jafarli's view is that the government should have a well-planned program to provide benefits to students in various forms. In countries like Russia, parents receive financial assistance for school preparation, an approach that could be implemented in Azerbaijan given the available resources. However, for such socially oriented programs to succeed, the political climate must be conducive to their implementation.

In response to these concerns, some municipalities in Azerbaijan pointed to a lack of funding as a significant obstacle to providing support for students and their families.

As the school year approaches, many Azerbaijani families are grappling with the financial challenges associated with sending their children back to school, underscoring the need for comprehensive and socially-oriented education policies.