Rising back to school costs are putting the squeeze on Kingston families.

A national survey by the Australia Scholarship Group revealed education costs are expected to increase by up to 25% during 2012 - 17.

Parents who choose a government school for a child born in 2012, can expect to pay up to $65829 over 14 years -- while families opting for private education will pay as much as $428 723.

An article from the Leader Newspaper entitled Tricky Subject Matter - Battlers juggle back to school bills blowout states:

Families are going without food or skipping rental payments to pay spiralling education costs, welfare groups say.
Almost 50 welfare organisations surveyed by the Brotherhood of St Laurence parcelled out more than $1 million on books, uniforms, shoes, school camps and subject levies last financial year.
Croydons Wesley Homeless Serves manager Linda McKay said her organisation had recorded a surge in requests from clients struggling to meet school costs.

"The rent of the utility money is often the largest pot of money families have, and they think that if they draw it down to cover the school costs that they will catch up at the end of the month," Ms Mckay said. "That is really difficult for people with no disposable income, and they then fall behind and, their accomodation is threatened."
Ms McKay said Wesley had recently recieved a $20,000 grant from the State Government and would be joining other local welfare groups to distribute the money to support families meeting education bills.
 

Victorian Council of Social Services chief executive Cath Smith said many parents encountered problems with back to school costs. "Its one of the key areas this time of year, where welfare agencies get alot of calls for help," Ms Smith said.
She said credit card debts from Christmas also added pressure on families and that more funding was needed to support schools and struggling parents.

Croydon Community School Principal Bronwyn Harcourt said parents struggling with their bills should speak to their childrens school. "I don't know of any schools that are unwilling to help in some way," Ms Harcourt said. "Typically parent are unaware of available support because schools are very discrete about this topic."

At the Dingley Village Community Advice Bureau---

We have seen dozens of families in the early months of the year.

We have assisted with -
- textbooks
- uniforms
- camp fees
- stationary supplies

Our assistance only comes with the generosity of our supporters.