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School Has Never Cost More: €75 for a Bag, €70 for Supplies and €14 for an Art Folder
🇭🇷 Croatia /Culture & Society

School Has Never Cost More: €75 for a Bag, €70 for Supplies and €14 for an Art Folder

From Večernji List · () Croatian

Translated from Croatian and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Context piece
  • Croatian parents face school-start costs of several hundred euros for bags, supplies, clothing, shoes and other essentials.
  • One Osijek mother said her family spent nearly €500, while another family with two schoolchildren estimated costs above €650.
  • Some Croatian cities, including Osijek, Zagreb, Rijeka and Varaždin, finance workbooks and other required educational materials for primary pupils.

The cost of starting school in Croatia is climbing, with one family in Osijek spending almost €500 on basic necessities before the new school year begins. The bill included a €75 schoolbag, about €70 for supplies, €20 for slippers, roughly €100 for sneakers and seasonal clothing, and another €200 for a desk and chair.

The price of an art folder has also risen sharply. It cost between €9 and €9.50 two years ago, €11 last year and €14 this year, with some bookstores charging more. Students also need pencils, markers, paints, brushes, pastels, modeling clay and other materials for art classes. Art supply boxes cost between €13 and €36, depending on quality and manufacturer.

The bag was €75, school supplies about €70, slippers €20, and we spent around €100 on sneakers and seasonal clothing. We also bought a desk and chair, which cost us an additional €200.

— Mother from OsijekShe detailed the family’s spending on supplies for her child starting first grade.

Families with more than one schoolchild feel the pressure even more. A mother from near Osijek, whose children are entering fourth and seventh grade, expects to spend more than €650. About 30 notebooks will cost at least €40, sports sneakers around €30 per child, and autumn clothing about €100 per child. She also needs a new bag and pencil cases because some items from last year are no longer usable.

When everything is added up, the start of school brings a much higher cost than it first appears.

— Mother from OsijekShe described the overall financial burden of preparing for the school year.

Book covers and workbooks would add about €38 per child. The family does not have to buy the workbooks because the City of Osijek finances them. If they had to pay, the workbooks would cost about €200 for seventh grade and €120 for fourth grade.

Osijek has funded workbooks and other compulsory materials for several years, including art folders, atlases and technical education supplies. Zagreb, Rijeka and Varaždin provide similar support, while Trogir, Makarska, Imotski, Solin, Kaštela, Supetar and Klis also finance some required materials.

We will spend at least €40 on about 30 notebooks, around €30 per child on sports sneakers, and about €100 per child on autumn clothing.

— Mother from near OsijekShe estimated costs for her two children entering fourth and seventh grade.
About this summary

Originally published by Večernji List in Croatian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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