JEDDAH, 9 September 2003 — It is estimated that the stationery market in Saudi Arabia amounts to SR 1 billion a year, most of which is made during the two weeks before schools open.

With just a few days to go before the school year begins, bookstores and stationery stores are competing for their customers’ attention and money. Special promotions and advertisements on new collections of school supplies from pencil sharpeners to computers and everything in between are meant targeted at schoolchildren. But it is the parents who have to pay for them.

“Prices seem to be lower than last year for some reason, particularly school bags, which are the most expensive item on my list,” a customer at Stationery Fantasies store told Arab News.

Perhaps the reason is that low-priced brands from China have been allowed into the market, forcing the big stores to lower their prices. “The problem with the cheap bags is their low quality; they usually don’t last one semester before getting torn,” the customer said. “I want my daughter to have things that are as good as her friends’,” another customer said. “They like to show their new things to each other, although I do feel bad for those who can’t afford them,” she added.

School supplies are generally affordably priced for all sections of society. Nevertheless, basic school supplies come to at least SR50 a student, which is not a small amount for limited-income families with many children.

“The problem is that some teachers ask their students for a particular type of notebook, the spiral-bound one, which is more expensive. They also want several pens of a certain kind. I paid SR52 just for pens for my daughter, which I’m sure she’ll lose within a few days,” Maha said.

“Then they continue asking for more things throughout the school year, like a special kind of paper and colors for art class. Last year I bought a color kit the teacher asked for that cost SR60, and my daughter ended up using it only twice,” she added. “And let me tell you, some teachers accept gifts from students, and they’re not some SR50 gifts,” she added.

It appears that girls are more expensive than boys. “For my son, I only need to buy school supplies and a training suit for physical education once at the beginning of the year and he’s set,” Umm Feras said. “But for my daughter I’m expected to pay for things like fixing the air-conditioner, painting the walls, putting plants in the classroom, and so on. This is against the rules, but the teachers ask the students and embarrass them if they don’t contribute,” she added.

In addition to stationery, there are expenses for the school uniform. Boys attending public schools can wear their thobes, but girls have to buy or tailor dresses of a specified color, fabric and design. “I buy my daughter’s uniform. It costs me SR80 as opposed to SR120 if I had it tailored, but it’s not just the uniform, there is also the abaya which has to be of a certain fabric and design,” she said. “There is a form that each student’s parent fills in at the beginning of the year on the number of family members and the household income, and yet I don’t know why the school doesn’t take some families’ situation into consideration and provide them with the basic stationery. Or perhaps the government could standardize the price of these supplies,” Umm Feras added.