WITH schools reopening next week, retailers warned parents with school-going children that prices of schooling essentials will hit their pockets hard. 

Even with the RM150 early schooling aid they received from the government at the beginning of January, parents could still be weighed down by the costs of their children’s uniforms and stationery. 

The production cost for a pair of school shoes rose by 15%, said the Malaysian Footwear Manufacturers’ Association (MFMA), while the Federation of Stationers and Booksellers Association of Malaysia (FSBAM) said prices of uniforms have gone up by 10% to 20%.

MFMA president Rachel Foo however said retailers had agreed to increase the price of the footwear by only 5% from last year’s price.

Foo blamed the sharp rise in production costs on increasing prices of raw materials and the weak ringgit.

But parents have a choice, she said. 

If locally produced shoes are expensive, parents can opt for those imported from China, Foo told The Malaysian Insight.

She said most school shoes sold in Malaysia are imported from China. 

“But unlike in the past, the supply from China could be unstable as the country is still emerging from its Covid-19 lockdown.”

She said China factories that have just restarted production are rushing to meet December delivery orders, so even China-produced shoes might not meet demand.

This year will mark the first time students of all grades return to school simultaneously since the pandemic began, albeit in March rather than the usual start of the school year in January.

Foo said the new school year begins at an unsuitable time as the Chinese community will have celebrated Chinese New Year mere weeks before. 

“If there are five to six school-going children in a family, their parents need to buy five to six pairs (of shoes) if they don’t (reuse) footwear from the previous year. 

“And normally, one child would need two pairs.

“With inflation, it’s clear parents will need to survey the prices before buying.”

FSBAM president Annie Chia said the cost of stationery has gone up, but retailers have opted not to increase prices for now.

“They will absorb the costs,” Chia said.

Most of the stationery sold in the local market is imported.

Reusing school supplies

Malaysia Garments Wholesale Merchants Association chief Ang Say Tee said he expects sales of uniforms to be weak among Chinese families.

“The Lunar New Year will have greatly reduced their purchasing power.” 

He said he expects parents would ask their children to continue wearing their old uniforms, unless they have outgrown them or their uniforms are damaged. 

Like most things, Ang said the uniforms are mostly imported from China or Vietnam.

On December 20 last year, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced in his mini budget speech that the RM150 Early Schooling Aid would again be disbursed to students in primary and secondary schools this year, regardless of their parents’ incomes. 

Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek later said the aid will be distributed in two phases – in January and March. – March 16, 2023.