by Yours Truly
Every year at this time I feel the urge to write about some of the ridiculous things that appear on my kids list of school supplies, and every year I just fret, fume and then forget it, since it's the wife that does the actual buying. This year, however, I MUST write something to complain about the arbitrary items that the school, a private school charging one of Merida's highest tuitions, wants you to buy for your kid's school year. So here goes...
For grade 6, the first part of the list is quite normal; it includes 1 red and 1 blue pen, 1 pencil (this seems a little low - I suspect that one pencil will probably last a week if that), geometry set, some glue etc etc etc. and one pencil sharpener. All this stuff is of course losable, as in your kids are going to lose something within a week so buy a dozen of everything, but that's a kid thing and you can't blame the school really.
The one sharpener, however, is a definite improvement from the primary school grades where the school asked each student to bring 3 pencil sharpeners and I used to bitch about the waste of money and materials that having over 100 pencil sharpeners in each classroom represented. Instead of installing one of those pencil sharpeners that you can find installed in any public school classroom in the U.S. or Canada, this private school couldn't spring the 10 dollars or 100 pesos to install one good pencil sharpener in each classroom and decided to pass the cost on to the already financially overburdened parents. While we're on the subject of pencils, don't teach your kids to recycle and use last years colored pencils that are still in good shape - rather, it is encouraged that you go out and buy yet another package of new pencil crayons and set a good consumer example for your young'uns.
The second part of the list includes some folders, some loose grid paper and get this: 1 package of 100 sheets of bond paper for photocopying. In previous years, this little item was classified as being for arts and crafts, but this year they have come right out and blatantly said that it's for their photocopies. What, the school can't afford paper for it's photocopy machine? What's next... each student will participate in small groups to purchase Xerox toner cartridges and maybe donate a little extra for the electricity used by that photocopier? Is this for the benefit of the students? If you should ever receive some sort of activity notice or permission slip from the school you will wonder where all this paper is ending up, since each 'aviso' is typed in the smallest space possible, resulting in 8 - 10 notes per photocopied page. That's one of the contentious items. You can buy this paper directly at the school by the way... but you won't receive anything in return for forking over the money. The paper you just bought for the school stays there to be used by the school as they see fit.
We're paying for the school's administrative supplies now as well as the... are you ready for this? ...insurance. Yes, the insurance.
Each parent must pay an additional little fee according to how many kids are enrolled in the school to pay for the insurance policy. Imagine going out for dinner and you get your bill and there are several little sub-totals at the bottom: food, beverage, gratuity, tax and insurance! Or maybe you just bought yourself a new blouse or pair of pants and the cashier informs you that it will be 199 pesos plus 5 pesos for the stores' insurance policy. It sounds pretty ridiculous when you put it that way, doesn't it? Maybe soon we'll all be chipping in for the hydro bill, the phone bills or that raise they promised the teachers!
Another contentious item, my personal favorite for its' audacity, and the one parents bitch about at any social gathering, is the 50 pesos that are to be place in a sealed envelope and given to the teacher at the beginning of the school year. This money supposedly is for "special materials" and its destiny is never fully divulged, and the affected parents spend much time ruminating publicly at parties, dinners and social gatherings when the subject of their kids schools invariably comes up, as to the possible beneficiaries of these funds.
