School Resumption: Financial Heat as Parents Battle Rising Costs

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School Resumption: Financial Heat as Parents Battle Rising Costs

Though nearly everything has become more expensive, ranging from school supplies to tuition fees, parents’ determination is commendable.

26 Aug 2026 14:08

T he drums of a new academic year are beating across the national territory, and with them comes what many parents are calling the annual financial heat of school reopening. From Yaounde to Bamenda, Douala to Maroua, households are preoccupied with one urgent task: buying school supplies and paying tuition fees in an economy where nearly everything has become more expensive. For many families, the figures are overwhelming. An average household with just three school-going children now spends over FCFA 2 mil lion to send them to boarding schools. The same amount is required for children in pro fessional schools where fees, materials, and equipment costs are high. The burden is ligh ter for those in government schools, as tuition fees remain relatively low; however, even there, parents say the cost of uniforms, books, and other levies has climbed steadily. The price of basic school items has almost doubled within the last five years. A plain gown for secondary school students that used to sell between FCFA 3,500 and FCFA 4,000 now goes for between FCFA 7,000 and FCFA 8,000. “Everything we buy to make uniforms has increased. Fabric, thread, even the rent for the shop,” said Happiness Zofenyui, a tailor at Carrefour Omnisport in Douala. Other essentials have followed the same trend. School shoes, wa ter bottles, snacks, and lunch boxes have all recorded steady increases. Faced with the pressure, some parents have devised survival strategies to cut costs. In large families, the most common me thod is rotation. Older child ren hand down textbooks and uniforms to younger siblings. The second-hand book mar ket has also become a lifeline. Parents take textbooks their children no longer need to bookshops, exchange them for those required for the next class, and add a small amount of money. Where the needed books are not available, they sell the old ones and top up to buy new ones. Faced with the ever-increasing prices, financial planning has become key. Some parents secure school fee loans from banks and microfinance ins titutions in August to cover tu...