“Expensive” schoolchildren: who is more affordable for a family on the eve of 1 September – first-graders or other classes?
28 August 2024 18:11
ANALYSIS FROM 
The first of September is coming soon. All parents in Ukraine are in a hurry to get their children ready for school: they are buying new diaries, stationery, suits and shoes. According to according to the Of the State Statistics Service of Ukraine, about 4 million students prepare for school every year (obviously, the data is constantly changing under martial law – ed.)
[Kommersant] found out how much it costs to get a student ready for school and whether the “check” for school supplies differs depending on the child’s grade.
How much does it cost to get a first-grader ready for school
According to one of the mothers of a future first-grader at a gymnasium, stationery alone cost her child UAH 3,500.
“We bought everything on the list: checkered and slashed notebooks, a folder for notebooks, a pencil case, pens and pencils, drawing books, an eraser, a ruler, a sharpener, brushes, gouache, watercolours, coloured pencils, notebook covers, bookmarks and more,” said the mother of a future first-grader from the capital.
In addition, a lot of money had to be spent on clothes for the child.
“We spent 5 thousand hryvnias on clothes. These are 3 sundresses, 3 blouses with sleeves, 2 without sleeves, a jacket, 5 tights, 3 pairs of socks, 5 T-shirts and shoes.”
The mother noted that uniforms are compulsory at the gymnasium, but they are not issued to first-graders. She also said that they will most likely have to buy textbooks at their own expense. However, they have not yet been warned about this.
“Last year, my friends in the same gymnasium paid 3,000 for textbooks and special notebooks. We have not been told about this yet, but we are waiting. Why did this problem arise? My friends say that all the books were supposedly given to the IDPs.”
Another mother, Alina, whose son is also entering the first grade of a Kyiv school this year, said that they have spent a little on stationery so far, only UAH 1,000, but clothes for the future first-grader cost a considerable amount.
“We spent UAH 1,000 on stationery, we had a list from the school and followed it. But we decided not to buy a lot of things at once, we will look at the situation. We bought shoes for the boy for UAH 1600. For clothes (a suit, shirt, tracksuit, sneakers, socks and a blouse), we paid UAH 5,000. For a schoolbag, we paid UAH 2,500,” said Alina’s mother, who stressed that their children were not told about any gadgets they would need for school: neither tablets nor computers.
How much it costs to send a third-grader to school
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“In terms of clothes, somehow the 1st and 2nd grades were the same, we hardly bought anything new, and in the 3rd grade we have to buy almost everything except two raglans. I’m even thinking of splitting the clothes into purchases in different months, i.e. buying something now, for the first time, and buying something in the second half of September,” says Yulia.
In her opinion, buying all the clothes for the next school year is a stereotype.
“In the first weeks of September, you can get by with basic plain T-shirts and skirts, and buy some trousers. My child does not have a uniform at school, but they emphasise a dark bottom and a plain, not bright top. Then I will buy more trousers, warm leggings, tunics and sweaters for the cold weather. And with the onset of the season, the stores will have newer things and it won’t hit the pocket so hard,” Yulia shared her thoughts and added that now the opportunity for girls to wear sneakers under their skirts saves a lot of money.
“I mean, I bought one pair of sneakers for the season and the child walks around. They don’t need to wear lacquered shoes with heels anymore,” she added.
Yulia says that it is more difficult for mothers of first-graders to guess what clothes to buy and what not to buy. However, everything comes with experience.
“For example, I once bought thin blouses and raglans, but it turned out that it was cold in the classroom and I needed a warm sweater. So those thin blouses stayed until spring, to be worn a couple of times. So now I’m more practical when choosing clothes, because I know what I need,” says Asya’s mother.
For this school year, she spent UAH 2,500 on stationery alone. She spent UAH 2250 on clothes, including trousers, black culottes, a skirt, 2 raglans, tights, socks and hair clips.
To the mothers I spoke to
Given that only 55% of schools in Ukraine as a whole will operate in personthe issue of the cost of gadgets for learning is also an urgent one.
In her research, Olga Penkovska, brand manager of the Goods and Delivery category at OLX, saidthat the median cost of a tablet as of July 2024 was UAH 2,400. The average price of a laptop is UAH 6,750. The largest number of ads were placed with offers from HP and Asus brands.
According to her, preparing for the 2024 school year is more expensive than last year. This is due to the general increase in prices for goods and the rise in prices for related costs (logistics, fuel prices, the rise in the dollar, etc.).
Despite all this, the first of September is an important day in the lives of all parents and their children, and one that will be remembered for a lifetime.
Author – Aliona Kaplina
