Tirol families face rising costs as new school year begins

Almost 98,000 pupils in Tirol will begin the new school year on Monday, with the cost of school supplies and other necessities creating a major financial burden for many families, ORF reported.

New schoolbags, notebooks, writing materials, electronic devices and other purchases can quickly add up. Families already living on tight budgets often face significant financial challenges at the end of the summer.

Caritas Tirol, a social support organisation, is helping in several ways. Used schoolbags collected over the summer in cooperation with the Tyrol government and an environmental association are being distributed to low-income families. The NOTebook project also collects functioning laptops and provides them to households that lack the equipment.

School costs continue to rise

Families are feeling price increases for schoolbags, materials, public transport tickets and school trips. The Tyrol Chamber of Labour found two years ago that a full school year cost an average of 1,878 euros per child. Taking inflation into account, the current figure is estimated at between 2,000 and 2,600 euros, according to Ernst Haunholter, the chamber’s education expert.

Families in financial difficulty can seek advice from the Chamber of Labour and Caritas. Counsellors assess what assistance may be available, including subsidies, financial support and other services. The aim is to provide more than short-term relief and help families stabilise their finances over the longer term.

The Tyrol government offers school cost assistance and funding for multi-day school events within Austria to support low-income families. “It is important to us that no child’s educational path is blocked because of a lack of financial resources,” Tyrol Governor Anton Mattle of the ÖVP said.

In 2025, authorities approved 7,180 applications for school cost assistance and 672 applications for support with school events. A total of about 2.3 million euros was paid to families.