“It’s better to shop for supplies now”

At the end of June, the shelves of stores are beginning to fill out with binders and pens, the famous lists of supplies are distributed to parents. The start of the school year is already getting ready. But this year, accompanied by galloping inflation, the note for the purchase of school materials is likely to be salty. Impacted by the soaring cost of energy and especially paper, notebooks, diaries and other loose sheets should undergo a substantial increase, up to nearly 20% according to forecasts.

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“From mid-September, we will no longer be able to guarantee prices”

Very bad news for Delphine, mother of three children educated at the Hélène-Boucher school complex in Thionville. “I only have a low income and it’s already difficult to eat,” she worries. “Too bad, the backpacks won’t be changed and I’ll wait for the promotions. “Bad idea according to the signs specializing in stationery which want to be reassuring. “It is better to do your back-to-school shopping now, advises Pierre Maujard, manager of Bureau Vallée in Thionville. Because from mid-September, during the next restocking, we will no longer be able to guarantee prices. For this back-to-school season, the brands negotiated and ordered the current stock last fall, before the war in Ukraine and the paper crisis. “Our prices are therefore similar to those of last year”, confirms Christophe Miraucourt, director of Cultura in Terville, who specifies that his store “has blocked 500 prices for school supplies”. Suffice to say that far-sighted families will not see their bill rise (too much). But starting this fall, rising raw material costs are expected to affect all stationery. The publishing sector, also impacted, is already reviewing book prices upwards.

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A revaluation of the allowance requested by the FCPE

To anticipate, some associates FCPE (Federation of Parents’ Councils), such as those of Yutz, have already set up group purchases in order to reduce costs. Others program support scholarships with donations of equipment to those who need it. “But that will not be enough”, assures Mélanie Pain, administrator of the FCPE of Moselle. “It is up to the state to react. Back-to-school allowance current payment, paid only in August, is insufficient to meet this additional cost. We therefore ask for the doubling of this amount and the revision of the criteria for awarding scholarships. Another concern for the start of the school year already seems to be emerging among parents of students: canteen prices. Lunch with his classmates could cost up to 10% more.

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