RADHICA DE SILVA
radhica.sookraj@guardian.co.tt
Burdened by the rising costs of school supplies, some parents are finding it difficult to purchase back to school supplies, saying they may be forced to keep their children at home if they do not get assistance.
Standing in front of a bookstore in San Fernando, Latchmin Lalchan of Victoria Village broke down in tears as she realized she could not buy school supplies. She called on the government to provide uniform grants before the start of the new school term.
“It is hard for us. Real hard. Many people not working. My husband used to work CEPEP. I get sick and we don’t know how we will afford back to school supplies,” she said.
She revealed that school bookbags ranged from $250 to $475.
Anganie Lewis of Golconda said school uniforms inclusive of physical education uniforms cost over $2,000 for her two primary school children who are in Standards One and Two.
Coveralls sold for $159 and school shirts for $40 while khaki long pants sold for $85 and shirt jacks sold for $56.
Another parent Kyrool Mohammed said children would fall through the cracks if some assistance was not offered.
“We think that there should be some grant for people like us who cannot afford it,” he said.
Mohammed said they have been selling soft drinks and snacks to earn some money for school supplies but this has not been enough as the costs had skyrocketed in recent times.
Speaking to Guardian Media, the Marketing assistant at Keith Khan Books Etc Azim Edoo agreed that prices had skyrocketed because of rising shipping costs and increases in the cost of materials.
“A school coverall went up by $30 and the shirts by five or six dollars,” he said.
He added, “We have had price hikes in book bags and stationery which also went up. Paper, copybooks and notebooks also went up.”
Despite the increases, he said his company has been offering discounts and donations, providing free uniforms for the Islamic home.
At Miguel Moses store on High Street, short khaki shorts sold for $130 for three.
Manager Derica Jattan said despite the higher shipping costs, they were trying to keep prices down as they were mindful of the economic hardship experienced by the public.
“Our shirts are the cheapest and we are selling school shirts for as low as $29 and up,” she said.
Meanwhile, Debe resident Vishyan Jason Mohammed said he decided to start a school support drive to assist families who were unable to afford school supplies. Mohammed said many people had lost their jobs and the intention was to offer assistance to children in need.
On Facebook, Shelly Singh offered free school shoes to students with pick up arranged in Marabella.
Liz Edoo said many parents were opting to buy one or two uniforms for their children, rather than separate uniforms for each day of the week. “Some parents have been telling us even though the ministry has relaxed uniforms, the principals are telling them otherwise. Sometimes they come and we don’t have all the sizes because they’re selling out so quickly,” Edoo said.
Meanwhile, some schools have also started uniform drives to assist parents.
At the San Fernando TML Primary School teachers, Rehana Nagee-Ali, Ameena Ali and Samla Elahie-Ali assisted school principal Wahida Mohamed-Narine with distributing free uniforms to parents. Both new and used uniforms were distributed.
Mohammed-Narine said the uniform drive started in April and has been successful.
“When the school closed off for the holiday we asked parents to donate uniforms. Some of these uniforms are brand new. We had parents who bought uniforms two years ago and had them put down. This week we have asked parents to come and collect uniforms all for free and for any amount that they want,” she added.
Last month, Education Minister Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly said the Ministry is cognizant of the economic constraints facing many parents, noting that schools have been mandated to relax uniform requirements. She said extra-curricular and sporting activities, along with the school-feeding and school-transport programmes, will also resume fully at the start of the new term.
Efforts to contact the Minister yesterday were unsuccssful.
