On one side, students and unions denounce the high cost of school – with increases “of 23.4% in four years” – on the other Sil Confesercenti says enough with speculation against booksellers. A battle fought with pens and pencils between those who propose increasing percentages regarding school expenses and those who talk about news “far from reality” presenting much lower numbers. On the supplies for the new school year “we are talking about increases quantifiable in 15%, when the increases are on average around 3%, in a range that goes from 1.8% to 3.5%. And it is not us who say it: it is sufficient to compare the price of individual texts present in the publishers’ catalogs both in 2023 and 2024 to find the actual increase in the price of textbooks”, explains the president of Sil Confesercenti, Anthony Third commenting on the Codacons data on the high cost of school. For the consumer association, the total outlay for notebooks, backpacks, diaries, stationery, drawing materials, books and dictionaries can reach 1,300 euros per student.
For the Lazio Student Network, the Cgil and the Flc Cgil Rome it is 12% more than in 2023 and +23.4% in four years. According to the Federconsumatori National Observatory, the average price increase on school supplies would be 6.6% on school supplies, while for textbooks, each student will spend an average of 591 euros for compulsory texts and two dictionaries, 18% more than last year. Added to all this are the costs for public transport and digital tools, such as tablets and PCs, which have now become essential”.
Meanwhile, Codacons has blasted the case of new editions of school books: texts that families are forced to repurchase in the face of minimal additions or external modifications. The Association has launched a complaint to the Public Prosecutor’s Office for fraud, with the request to seize the school books presented as “new” to verify their contents, since – writes Codacons in the complaint – “as every year, through small changes to the texts, a new preface, introductory chapters, therefore minimal changes, a new text is put on the market which as such must be purchased ex novo to replace the one from the previous year”. But students know how to get around the price increases of textbooks, and if those who have a brother or sister in the same school are lucky, the others can count on tricks capable of saving their families several hundred euros.
The Federconsumatori National Observatory has thought of reminding us of some strategies by drawing up a Ten Commandments of Savings: for both books and school supplies, buying used products allows you to spend between 27% and 55% less than new ones (at stalls, on social groups and online); even in hypermarkets, in addition to school supplies, you can find textbooks. The savings, compared to stationery shops and dedicated stores, amount to over 18% for school supplies, for books discounts of around 12% are applied; many publishing houses make digital versions of texts available, allowing a saving compared to the paper edition of up to 39%; many teachers then make handouts useful for studying available to students; it should also be remembered that close to the opening of schools, or immediately after, some stores (but also some online platforms) apply extra discounts; many Regions or Municipalities make funds available to help families in difficulty to buy textbooks and, sometimes, even school supplies.