Back-to-School Shopping Starts With $25 Supply Lists and $76 Uniforms

Back-to-school shopping is already moving through Cuenca as families prepare for the 2026–2027 school year, scheduled to begin on September 1.

The return affects approximately 318,434 students in Zone 6, which includes Azuay, Cañar, and Morona Santiago. Of those students, 191,457 are in Azuay, distributed across 1,832 educational institutions.

The basic shopping list

A basic school-supply list costs around $25. That figure covers writing, painting, and geometry materials, but does not include books, puzzles, or other items some schools request.

Some products imported from Colombia, including markers, tempera paint, paper, cardstock, and modeling clay, have increased by about 10% because of tariffs. Retailers told El Mercurio that many families are buying earlier to avoid the final rush.

Uniforms and shoes

A complete uniform for basic education costs around $76. In private schools, the amount can reach $98 or more, depending on the number of pieces, the student’s size, and the school.

School shoes for younger children start at $22, while larger sizes start at $34. The source says combos that include athletic and everyday shoes represent 60% of demand at one cited shoe business.

Cash and bank transfers are seeing more demand than credit cards in the reported shopping activity. These are retail reference points rather than a universal cost for every school.

For expat households, the practical move is to price supplies, uniforms, and shoes separately and leave room for the items that do not appear on the basic list.

Source: El Mercurio