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Rabat – Due to the rise in school supply costs, Moroccan families will have to pay more than 50% of their total monthly income to cover each child’s basic school supplies, a report by the digital payments service WorldRemit has indicated, noting that the average family in the country has 2.29 children.
As the back-to-school season is fast approaching, WorldRemit published today this year’s results of its annual “Cost of School” study, which revealed “how the changing macroeconomic environment has affected the true cost of education across 21 markets globally.”
The report concluded that household incomes have decreased by 4%, whereas living costs, including basic school supplies costs, have increased in the majority of countries observed in 2021 and 2022. WorldRemit added eleven new countries to its annual study for the year 2022, including Morocco.
The report attributes the “dramatic increase” in the cost of some basic school supplies to “how inflation is hitting home on schooling costs and impacting families across the world.”
For instance, the cost of a backpack in the United Kingdom doubled in price in comparison to last year, jumping from $8.98 (94 MAD) in 2021 to $19.03 (nearly 199 MAD) in 2022.
The cost of a jumper – school uniform – in Australia increased by 266%, up from $9.86 (MAD 103) last year to $26.28 (MAD 275) in 2022, the report added.
Read also: Stabilizing Textbook Prices ‘A National Priority’ for Morocco
Families in Mexico are expected to spend 10% more on school items this year, the study noted, adding that “significant increases [were] observed in the cost of a water bottle (+264%), gym shoes (+200%) and pencil sharpeners (+29%).”
In addition, families in Zimbabwe are forecast to pay over six times more than the average household income to send children to school. The African country “showed the highest costs relative to average family size and monthly income at nearly 700% of the average family household income,” said the report.
WorldRemit concluded that families around the world will pay up to 57% more on basic school items in 2022.
