The Iranian regime’s state-run news agency, ISNA, has reported a significant surge in the price of stationery, with luxury items flooding the market. According to the report, school backpacks are now selling for prices ranging from 300,000 tomans to as high as seven million tomans, sparking concerns among families already struggling with the cost of education.
In its detailed report, ISNA highlighted the millions of tomans that families now need to spend on basic stationery supplies for the school year. Compared to the previous year, the prices of all categories of stationery have risen dramatically. Among these, some items have entered the luxury category, being sold at prices far beyond what would be expected for everyday school essentials.
For instance, a pack of 12 black pencils is now being sold for up to 240,000 tomans, with higher-end models exceeding 1.4 million tomans. In the retail market, pencil prices range from 40,000 tomans to over two million tomans. Regular pens, which used to be affordable, now cost around 50,000 tomans each.
The soaring prices extend to colored pencils as well. A pack of 42 colored pencils is being sold for over 6.5 million tomans. Even smaller packs are costly, with a set of 12 colored pencils priced at up to 700,000 tomans. Foreign brand colored pencils, particularly in larger sets, are even more expensive, with a pack of 120 pencils selling for an astonishing 23 million tomans.
Backpacks, a basic school necessity, have not been spared from the price surge. ISNA reports that backpacks are now priced between 300,000 tomans and nearly seven million tomans, while laptop backpacks range from 700,000 tomans to as much as 25 million tomans.
A Growing Educational Crisis
These exorbitant prices come at a time when many families are already struggling to meet the educational needs of their children. The financial strain is so severe that it is contributing to a growing trend of students dropping out of school.
According to the deputy of primary education in the regime’s Ministry of Education, around 216,243 children were forced to leave school at the primary level during the 2023-2024 academic year. This is a continuation of a troubling trend. In July 2023, Mohammad Molavi, a member of the Education Commission in Iran’s parliament, stated that 279,000 children had dropped out of school due to financial hardships.
The situation is even more dire across the country. On Thursday, July 25, the Vice Chairman of the Education Commission announced that a staggering 911,000 children in Iran had left the education system, including 400,000 elementary school students.
This issue is particularly prevalent in deprived and border provinces such as Baluchistan and Kurdistan, where access to education has long been a challenge. Despite the severity of the problem, little action has been taken to address it. The lack of teachers in Iran is another critical issue, further exacerbating the country’s educational crisis.
Conclusion
The sharp rise in the cost of basic school supplies underscores the broader socio-economic challenges that many families in Iran are facing. As the price of essential items such as pencils, backpacks, and notebooks continues to skyrocket, more and more children are being forced to abandon their education. Without urgent intervention, the educational crisis in Iran will only deepen, particularly in the country’s most vulnerable regions.
