Thousands of children are back at school and the problems that existed in previous years have returned once again. And probably they will come back next year too, because we do tend to talk a lot but do nothing to change the way things function.

It is a real pity that no matter what is said and the suggestions that are made, mostly by parents, the difficulties are not ironed out. The thing is: It is the students who suffer the most.

There are a number of issues which come up year after year, and yet in spite of an acknowledgement from the part of the authorities that things need to be sorted out, little, if anything, is done to rectify the situation.

Now that the uniforms and books have been bought – at an enormous expense that grows every year in spite of government promises that a better control should be exercised, a problem that we will hear about next summer – we have moved into the second set of issues that schoolchildren and their parents have to face.

Let’s start with transport. For the umpteenth year, we have situations where children are picked up nearly two hours before they are to start school. This means that they leave home in the dark and arrive back home after school almost when it is dark too.

In this day and age, is it possible that no solution can be found? It seems that the schools function on what the drivers have to say and according to their schedule, rather than the other way round.

We have been into the scholastic year for just a week and parents have already been inundated with notes from the schools requesting money for this, that and the other thing. It could be money for hand-outs, for telephone calls, stationery, postage and a 101 other items that amount to a hefty sum that has to be paid for each and every student attending a Church or private school.

These schools find every excuse to ask for money, and although schools have found a very gentle way in making their demands, they do take note of the students whose parents do not pay up for some reason or other.

One other problem that tends to take place in the first few days of school is the disorganised way that teachers make their requests. It often happens that different teachers ask for school items on different days, demanding that they are bought immediately and taken to school the next day, with the result that parents have to rush to the stationery shop nearby every day to buy a folder one day, and another folder the next.

It would be better for schools to come up with one list of items that is handed to the student on the first day, rather than have different teachers giving out their list individually. Like everybody else, parents of students have other things to do and their time is precious too, particularly if both work till 5pm or later.

The provision of lockers in schools has gone a long way to help students avoid having to carry all their books to school. But, again, this is not enough if teachers do not tell their students which books are going to be used on the different days.

Although each school has its timetable, students may have three or four books per subject and it is unfair that some teachers fail to inform their students which book they need to take with them to school – with students ending up taking all three or four.

These are little things that are so frustrating to parents and students, because it should not take much to improve the situation. Yet, we are sure that the same problems being faced today will crop up next year and in the years to come too.