By Assoc Prof Dr Tengku Elena Tengku Mahamad

Over the weekend, a few friends and I found ourselves talking about back-to-school preparations. It started casually. I asked whether they had finalised their children’s school supplies. One admitted she had not even started. Another laughed and said she had already spent more than RM200 on school shoes alone. Some had ordered supplies online through Shopee, hoping to save time if not money.

What followed was familiar. Complaints about prices. Shoes that cost more than expected. Bags, stationery, uniforms, books, and the realisation that the list keeps growing. We joked about it, but beneath the laughter was a shared understanding. Preparing our children for school has become increasingly expensive.

Even with the complaints, we all knew we would still do it.

When preparation goes beyond shopping

Buying school supplies is not just a practical task. It carries emotional weight, especially for parents whose children are moving through new stages. Preparing a child who is leaving toddlerhood and entering kindergarten feels very different from preparing one who is stepping into primary school. Preparing a child for high school feels heavier still. Each transition comes with excitement, worry, and a quiet fear of whether our children are truly ready.

This feels especially close to home for me this year. My youngest is entering kindergarten. My middle child is transitioning into primary school. My eldest is stepping into high school. Three children, three different stages, and three sets of worries and hopes unfolding at the same time.

Each transition asks for a different kind of reassurance, patience, and emotional readiness, not just from the children, but from us as parents.

The quiet worry parents carry

Parents do more than shop and plan. We imagine first days. We think about unfamiliar classrooms, new routines, and social adjustments. We wonder if our children will cope, if they will make friends, and if they will feel confident enough to navigate change.

Much of this work happens quietly. Parents steady themselves even when their thoughts are racing. They speak positively about school while managing their own unease. They focus on preparing their children emotionally, often setting aside their own worries until later.

This quiet effort is rarely visible, but shapes how children experience change and transition.

When support makes a difference

Against this backdrop, an announcement brought a small sense of relief. On 5 January, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced a one-off Early Schooling Aid of RM150 for all students from Year One to Form Six.

For many families, this assistance may not cover everything, but it helps. It offsets part of the cost and, just as importantly, eases some of the emotional pressure that comes with school preparations. Knowing there is support, even in modest amounts, matters to parents who are already stretching their budgets and energy.

A reminder from experience

I found myself voicing my stress to an older colleague who is also a close friend. Her children are all grown up, and I kept asking whether it had always felt this overwhelming when they were younger. Whether the worry ever really went away.

She listened patiently and then reassured me that children are more resilient than we often think. It is normal for parents to feel anxious during these transitions, she said, but children usually adapt faster than we expect. Our stress does not mean we are failing them. It means we care.

Trusting our children and ourselves

Back-to-school seasons come every year, but each one feels personal. For parents, it is not just about ticking items off a list. It is about learning to let go, trusting our children, and trusting ourselves at the same time.

Behind every purchase is care. Behind every complaint is love. And behind every school preparation is a parent doing their best to support a child through change, even when it feels heavy.

As children step into new classrooms and routines, all the best to the parents walking alongside them. You are doing more than enough.

-- BERNAMA

Assoc Prof Dr Tengku Elena Tengku Mahamad is Deputy Dean (Research & Industrial Linkages) / Senior Lecturer (Communication Management & Policy), Faculty of Communication and Media Studies, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam.