Back to School Burdens Nicaraguan Families’ Economy
With the new school year just begun in Nicaragua, parents scramble economically to get their children ready
HAVANA TIMES – Back to school costs have been hitting the pockets of Nicaraguans hard as the new school year begins. Families already struggling with the high prices of basic food items, now must juggle expenses to buy uniforms and school supplies. María* – a housewife with four children who attend a public school in Managua – and Martha*, who is in charge of two nieces enrolled in a Managua private school, illustrate well what this cost implies.
Maria is the mother of four children aged 15, 12, 10 and 8: two of them will attend secondary school and the other two attend primary school. This family is dependent on her husband’s income, since he’s the only one working. She bought her children’s uniforms at the beginning of January, so as not to feel the blow to her pocketbook all at once.
In order to assure that her children would have what they needed for this school year, Maria went to the Oriental market and bought three uniforms for each of them. She bought the pants at the market for 280 cordobas, and the skirts for 210 cordobas. The white shirts or blouses for the school uniforms cost 120 cordobas each, except for the small-sized one for the youngest, which went for 106 cordobas.
An average monthly salary in Nicaragua ranges between US $150 and US $250 per month. 1 USD = 37 córdobas. US $200, equals 7,400 cordobas.
The high cost of going back to school
Buying school supplies also represents a significant expense for families. Maria has the advantage that her brother helps her with the cost. This year, the eight-year-old girl was the beneficiary of the “presidential school voucher” to be delivered by the Ministry of Education (Mined).
According to the pro-Ortega media, the regime plans to benefit 500,000 preschool, first, and second grade students with a 2,000 cordoba [US $54 dollar] voucher for the purchase of school supplies. The voucher began to be delivered to parents on January 20, 2025. “Two thousand cordobas is not enough. It’s a half help you could say, but we always end up spending more, because sometimes [the children] want a pencil case, colored markers, among other things,” said Maria.
According to the Ministry of Education, the new school year began on Monday, January 27, 2025. This year 1,806,518 students are expected to enter the school system, including preschool and primary school children, and high school students in any of the different alternatives for secondary education, including day, afternoon or night classes, distance education in the countryside, and intensive weekend classes.
According to data from the Nicaraguan Budget Office, the Ministry of Education was allocated an amount of about 18.6 billion cordobas. Of this amount, nearly 17 billion cordobas (90.7%) are destined to current operating expenses (personal services, goods and services, and transfers) and 1.7 billion (9.3%) to capital expenses, including an investment program of 1.64 billion cordobas.
The category “personal services,” includes the salaries and benefits guaranteed for 67,463 budgeted positions: teachers, administrators, general services, technical and scientific planners, and directors.
Public vs. private schools
The realities of the new school year for each family in Nicaragua are different. Martha has assumed the responsibility of raising her two nieces, aged 14 and 17, after their mother emigrated to the United States in 2022. She knows well the expenses involved in outfitting a student for the return to classes.
The two teenagers study in a private school located in the eastern area of Managua. Martha had to pay a total of 9,100 cordobas to cover the cost of the two girls’ return: she was charged for preadmission, followed by enrollment, the monthly tuition for January, and other fees for materials, exams, classroom furniture and paper.
Martha told Confidencial that the costs were the same as they’d been in 2024 but assured that the total cost of back-to-school items this year will be higher. She still needs to buy the uniforms, notebooks, writing utensils and the rest of the school supplies. “Last year, we spent 23,000 cordobas; this year, I estimate, I could end up spending more like 28,000 cordobas, because everything’s more expensive,” Martha predicted.
To cover the cost of the return to classes, the girls’ mother sent 250 dollars, which was only enough to cover the preadmission and enrollment costs. The mother promised to send another remittance to cover the school supplies before the teens go back to school. This money is in addition to the 200 dollars that Martha generally receives for the food expenses.”
“If there’s any extra needs, she [the girls’] mother] sends that too, but that means more hours working in the United States, where she’s only earning 10 dollars an hour. It’s a big sacrifice,” Martha explained.
Both Maria and Martha are still coping with the high cost of certain basic food products, such as cooking oil, which in December was selling for 63 cordobas a liter, but now has risen to 70 cordobas. “Right now in January, the essential thing is our provisions, and the school expenses,” Martha noted.
According to data from Nicaragua’s National Institute of Information and Development, at the close of the year, the total cost of the most essential foods, clothing and products to maintain a household for a month had ascended to 20,260 cordobas, around US $547 dollars.
Businesses take advantage
Martha and Maria are both waiting to purchase the school supplies, which means they’ll be confronting high prices.
Marlon* owns a shop in Managua, where he also offers school supplies. This year, he was able to acquire some products at a lower cost, because he bought them from other suppliers. Other products, however, had gone up in price.
Small notebooks, bought by the dozen, cost 37 cordobas, but each one can be priced between 40 and 45 cordobas. The university or spiral notebooks cost 40 – 50 cordobas apiece. A package of cheaper pens costs 60 cordobas, and a four-pack of gel pens around the same – between 40 and 60 cordobas.
“Often parents buy the notebooks by the dozen, because that way I can charge them up to 5 cordobas less for each one,” Marlon noted.
Pencils rose in price, from 40 to 45 cordobas, while the erasers and sharpeners went up one cordoba each, Marlon stated. The price of backpacks vary according to size and brand, averaging anywhere from 200 to 700 cordobas.
“Some parents come in and ask for such-and-such a brand, because the school sent out a list. Other parents look for what’s easiest and most affordable,” he added. He’s also noted greater movement in online sales.
The businessman feels that in this year 2025, the back-to-school sales have tripled in his store with respect to 2024.
Note: all real names have been changed, to avoid risk to those interviewed.
First published in Spanish by Confidencial and translated and posted in English by Havana Times.