The lack of means and unavailability of some textbooks pushed parents to carry out last minute purchase.

It hasn’t been easy for some parents to buy school stationeries like books, bags, and uniforms among others. Though the three-month holiday was enough time for parents to gather resources to purchase stationeries for the 2015/2016 school year without pressure, most parents with more than one child preferred to carry out purchases after schools have resumed.

Most bookshops are overcrowded with parents trying to pick up books for their kids. While some purchase new books, other go in for second-handed ones not just because they are cheap, but also due to the fact that new ones are scarce and expensive. In a second-handed bookshop at Akwa, a parent revealed that he has searched for a novel in title “Fables des Montagnes” for Form Two in the Francophone sub-system of education for long only to find it in a shop selling second-hand books. Other books like the “Strange tales from Arabian Nights,” “the Secret of Success” and “Mathematics made Easy” for primary schools used in the Anglophone sub-system of education were available only in bookshops with second-hand books.

Other parents with little means preferred to buy the most essential textbooks including French and English languages, as well as Literature and Mathematics and buy others as time goes on in order of preference. Some parents carry out the exchange phenomenon by exchanging old text books for new ones while some sell the old text books and complete money to buy new ones. Every evening, bookshops are overcrowded with parents trying to buy or sell text books while other stationeries like school bags, math sets, colours, water bottles, rulers and pens are easily bought because they are not only available, but also affordable. According to a second-hand book seller, Raymond M, the peak purchase period will end around mid September.