Back-to-School Season: Can Discounts Trigger an Inflation Surge?
Updated 9/5/2023 8:00:00 AMThe words ‘Back to School’ seem to be everywhere these days in Egypt, as they are carried by clothing shops, shoes and bags stores, stationaries, and even hypermarkets. This comes as malls seem to be adapting the words as a theme offering many discounts, as the academic year began in international schools, while public and private schools welcome students at the beginning of the 2023/2024 academic year in early October. Yet, could inflation have an impact on people’s back-to-school enthusiasm?
Buying Frenzy
The number of primary school students in Egypt has been increasing in the past few years. In the school year 2021/2022, the number of primary school students reached 13,678, compared to 12,820 in 2019/2020 and 11,578 in 2017/2018, according to the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics’ (CAPMAS) indicators.
Around the start of the school year, parents tend to purchase everything they need for their child’s new school year, instead of buying them one by one earlier. This comes as stores offer discounts on children’s necessities. Dina, a mother of two kids enrolled in language schools, tells Arab Finance: “Purchasing during the back-to-school season gives us a special feeling; parents feel that they have gone back to being kids. Children feel that the school time is a beautiful thing, and we are excited to go with them.”
Meanwhile, Fatma, a mother of a child enrolled in an international school, tells Arab Finance: “Sure the goods are cheaper during this season; however, it is not a must to wait for it, but I always purchase all the school requirements at this time.”
As parents choose to buy school supplies and other essentials for their kids around the back-to-school season, inflation might be impacted. Additionally, their purchases might as well be affected by inflation. The overall consumer prices index (CPI) for the entire republic rose by 2% month-on-month (MoM) to 181.1 points in July. The annual inflation also rose last July to 38.2%, compared to 14.6% for the same month of 2022, according to the CAPMAS.
In a poll conducted by Arab Finance, the majority of participants claimed that inflation has highly affected their education budget.
Heba Salah, an economic expert and public policy analyst at the Cabinet’s Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC), comments: “The back-to-school shopping frenzy is expected to impact inflation in Egypt in the upcoming months due to the shocks caused by global inflationary pressures. The prices of stationery and school supplies are expected to rise.”
Accordingly, the government tries to offer school supplies at lower prices. Salah explains: “In this regard, the Egyptian government contributes to supporting Egyptian citizens and families across the country by organizing ‘Hello Schools’ (Ahlan Madares) exhibitions in various governorates, in order to alleviate the burden on them through offering various products, goods, and school supplies of high quality at affordable prices that meet consumer preferences. Moreover, such exhibitions meet the demands of students at various stages of education.”
Enrollment Fees
This September, the Ministry of Education has adjusted the maximum annual increase applied to tuition fees in private and international schools by a rate ranging between 6% and 25%, according to Ahram Online. The new system stipulates that schools whose expenses start at EGP 35,000 can be increased by a maximum of 6% annually, while expenses can be increased by 25% annually for schools whose enrollment fees do not exceed EGP 5,000. Dina says: “The annual increase is logical, but some schools are exaggerating their increase.”
Meanwhile, Fatma says: “We are not paying for the school bus. The school tuition, unfortunately, has grown largely as well as the uniform fees.”
From the schools’ point of view, Mona, a public relations representative at an International School, tells Arab Finance: “I think the increase in school fees are not exaggerated and much less than the service the school provides.”
This year, as Egypt receives a number of Sudanese refugees, the number of students in schools is expected to increase. Mona says: “There was a very large number enrolling in the school this year, most of them are Sudanese, and all of them enrolled internationally.
School-Hubs
In recent years, Egypt has hosted school hub fairs at different times of the year and in several places. Through these fairs, many schools and training providers exhibit their education system, curriculum, and enrollment fees, and some offer the fair’s attendees discounts.
Ahmed, a father of one child at a language school, says: “The school hub I attended was extremely helpful; I have selected my daughter’s school through it. I also learned about places that provide courses other than schools, and everything is useful for kids.”
Meanwhile, Mona adds: “I do not think school hubs and exhibitions are very beneficial; we only have three or four students enrolling in our school through it. I think social media ads are much better.”
As the back-to-school discounts encourage parents to buy the necessary items for their kids during the season, the country’s inflation rates are likely to rise. The back-to-school season is filled with enthusiasm as students look forward to purchasing new things for their school years, while parents enjoy reliving the excitement with their children.
By Sarah Samir
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