education

Students see price increase

Inflation is affecting everyone in the country, and even the country's smallest consumers can’t escape it.

Children heading back to school next week have found prices for basic school supplies to be much higher this year than in 2007.

Juan Peralta, of Chiriquí, who has two small children in school, said that last year when he bought his sons school supplies, including shoes, uniforms, notebooks and books, he paid $150. So far this year he has spent $170, and isn't done yet.

"It’s not possible that some authority can't do something about this situation," he said. "My children are not in private school. Imagine how the parents of those children will cope."

The director of the Autoridad de Protección al Consumidor, Alexis Ortega, said that his agency began its annual Back to School program, which involves checking stores to make sure they are exempting school-related supplies from the country's sales tax.

Ortega said his agency has been monitoring prices, and he has noticed an increase from last year, but the authority has no control over that aspect.

Most of the country’s students head back to class on Monday. Teachers have been at school this week preparing their classrooms for the start if the new year.