Saudi Gazette As the pleasant weather prevails in the city, spring break has however, come to an end and it is ‘back to school' for children. Like it or not, children and parents have had to come out of their holiday mode and prepare for the second school semester. The topmost priority for children is to buy new school stationery. And, it is prime time for stationery owners as they take maximum advantage of this period by readily increasing the prices of school supplies. Parents have to buy school stationery for their children because either they have lost it or ruined, or they simply need to go back to school with something new. How can I go back to school with the same old stationery that I had used in the first semester? What will my friends say? Every one always gets new things to school and I am the only who never gets anything. The list is endless and the hue and cry from children continue all week long, until parents have no option but to give in. A Saudi father, Ahmed Al-Rajeh, “As students crowd the stationery shops during the beginning of the school semester the demand goes up and business owners take advantage of it by raising their prices. Families have no choice but to consent to their children's requests. When I was shopping yesterday, I found that the school bags now cost SR120 just because they have famous cartoon characters printed on them.” As a parent myself, I am quite certain that negotiating with international representatives and world leaders at the United Nations is easier than negotiating with children on the difference between what they need and what they want. My son wanted a new school bag because the present one was all torn and shabby and it looked like as if it had been used as shield in a war. Although, I don't understand how a branded school bag reached such a state. Anyways, we bought him a new one, but now how could my daughter not want one? With tears in her eyes, she also pleaded for a new bag though her current school bag was in excellent condition. After denial, again began the all-my-friends-get-new-school-supplies story. We managed to convince her to live with her old school bag, but in lieu of it we had to buy her new pencils and pens with the spectacular star in the movie tangled on them because her old one's had become useless. Wise families have found another reasonable alternative and are trekking to Balad to stock up on school supplies at wholesale prices and save a good amount of money. The fancier stationery/bookstores where most people usually love to shop, and where you can also get a fresh brew of coffee are simply too expensive for many residents, especially at this time of year. A salesman at Al-Ma'rifa Stationery in Jeddah, Ahmad Kaed, told Al-Watan daily, “We started making preparations for our young customers from the beginning of the spring holiday by displaying attractive school paraphernalia and school bags with the children's favorite cartoon characters. The beginning of each school semester is always the best time for our business. It is true that the prices of school bags have gone up this week and have in fact increased by 14 percent, but that is because our distributors have raised the prices for us as well.” Wholesaler and businessman Atiya Al-Balawi, who owns a school supplies shop in the Balad disagrees, and claims that the increase in prices is due to the greed of merchants. “Many families have been fleeing the pricey stationeries and are shopping at wholesale shops like this one in the Balad that have more reasonable prices and at times can get to a bargain as well. Some stationery shop owners have reached the degree of exploitation. Several years ago school bags used to cost around SR40 and these days the prices of school bags have tripled. Some merchants come in and buy commodities from us at wholesale prices and then exponentially increase the prices at their own stores to multiply their profits. Stricter inspections and regulations are needed from the Ministry of Commerce to keep the prices of school supplies in the local stationeries under control and in an acceptable range,” said Al-Balawi. __
