Opinion: Back to school costs sting

Stationery is just the beginning. Photo / Getty

I'm not a parent, so all I have to worry about this week, as the new school year starts, is getting up five minutes earlier for work to account for the inevitable extra congestion.

Don't get me wrong: I resent that five minutes.

I have, however, managed to find some sympathy for even road-clogging parents after seeing how much money they are being squeezed as they send their kids back to school.

They are not just shelling out for books, backpacks and three different colours of highlighter.

The uniform costs alone can run to hundreds of dollars: Summer, winter, physical education, formal, shoes.

Same goes for stationery. Costs here can vary wildly depending on what subjects your little learner is taking, with bonus costs for some areas of study.

That might include the purchase of a bobbin for a fashion, ingredients for food technology, the entry fee to a community jogging event for PE, or headphones for music or technology - all real examples I found in 2019 stationery lists from a few Tauranga and Rotorua schools.

I also found a lot of schools listing fees for things like ID cards, printing and postage.

It's a shame to hear of parents having to pull their child out of a class because they cannot afford the materials required to study that subject.

The "bring your own device" trend is the steepest hurdle for some.

Public schools aren't allowed to present laptops and tablets as compulsory stationery items, according to the Ministry of Education, but that rule seems to be widely ignored and loosely policed.

Another "voluntary" cost: The school donation. Tax deductible and rewarded, perhaps, with a school magazine at the end of the year.

That's not the end of it, though: There are additional fees for sporting activities, class trips, camps, ID cards, printing and more.

Then there is transport. One Tauranga mum of two reported spending more than $600 on bus fees.

Ouch.

Here's an area where perhaps we can spread the load a little more.

I'll keep my five minutes extra sleep a day, and - provided parents promise to make good use of it - pitch in some of my rates towards bringing back free school buses.