Education becomes a luxury: parents in Romania allocate 1,377 lei for the beginning of the school year

The expenses necessary to start the school year have increased a lot this year, compared to last year, parents allocating more than ever in children's education: the budget for the new school year has reached an average of 1,377 lei per child.

The expenses needed to start the school year have increased a lot. Photo Truth

A new study shows that the relationship between school and family, the quality of the educational act and the emotional well-being of children are the main expectations of the parents for the 2025-2026 school year.

Parents' expectations

For six out of ten parents, the highest expectation in the new school year is a good and open relationship between school and family, mentioned by 63% of the respondents. Equally, 63% want a safe and friendly environment for children, and 61% emphasize dedicated and involved teachers.

Over half of the parents – 58% – consider essential a quality education, with well -structured and relevant lessons. In the complementary plan, 42% of parents will involve children in creative and social projects and 35% appreciate the diversity of extracurricular activities.

It is worth noting that 56% of parents want modern and interactive teaching methods, adapted to current needs. However, only 29% of respondents consider the use of technology as a support for learning and only 19% give priority to the integration of artificial intelligence in the educational process, which indicates a certain reluctance or the need for additional information on the benefits of these instruments.

Budget and acquisitions for school

Regarding the financial resources, the parents allocated on average 1377 RON for the necessary purchases at the beginning of the school year, with about 300 RON than in 2024, when the average amount was 1080 RON.

The most commonly purchased products are requisites, already purchased or planned by 93% of parents, and clothing or footwear, targeted by 95% of the respondents.

School textbooks and sports articles are largely planned for purchase during the school start, which shows that the shopping process is still in progress.

Technological products, such as laptops and tablets, have already purchased 34%of parents and are to be purchased by another 18%, while almost half, respectively 48%, does not consider them necessary.

The school furniture is already purchased or planned for 45% of parents. In contrast, smartwatch and mobile phones are purchased in a lower proportion, over 65% of parents say they will not buy them for this school year.

Purchase behaviors

Purchase habits show that 54% of parents shop for school at most one or two weeks before the year begins, and 24% prefer to postpone the purchases until after the debut of the courses, thus adapting to the real needs. Only 7% of parents choose to make preparations more than a month before.

Regarding the purchase channels, technological products-laptops, tablets, phones and smartwatch-are purchased mainly online, over half of the parents opting for this variant.

In contrast, supplies, clothing and articles for sports are bought in most physical stores, with percentages between 63% and 78%.

Pocket money and extracurricular activities

The study shows that 64% of parents give children pocket money for school. On average, a child receives 75 RON per week, and the way of granting is predominantly cash, 83% of parents opting for this form, while only 17% use the card.

Regarding the extracurricular activities, the most popular are the sports, practiced by 56% of the students. Almost one third, respectively 29%, participate in educational activities such as reading, programming or foreign languages, and 23% choose artistic activities, such as painting, drawing or singing. Practical and hobby activities are mentioned by 19% of children, and those of community and personal development are frequented by lower percentages, 17% and 16% respectively. However, 15% of schoolchildren are not involved in any extracurricular activity, which can indicate either the lack of interest or access barriers. The average monthly budget allocated for extracurricular activities is 493 RON.

“The results of the study confirm that the Romanian parents place a special emphasis on the quality of the human relationship in education, on the safety of children and the involvement of teachers. At the same time, financial investments for the beginning of the school year are higher than in 2024, and the interest for extracurricular activities is diverse and increasing. Artificial technology and intelligence remain secondary priorities, which shows that, although parents appreciate the modernization of education, integration of these tools requires better communication and a stepped approach”Says Alina Zelezneac, Chief Research and Operations Officer, isense solutions.

The data presented are part of the study of ISense Solutions Omnibus, representative research for the Internet users in the urban environment. The ISense Solution study was performed on a 540 respondent sample, the maximum error margin +/- 4.1%, at a level of 95%, between August 18-22, 2025.