Douala: Rush For School Needs

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Douala: Rush For School Needs

Bookshops, tailors, traders and schools are already witnessing crowds in their various spaces.

29 août 2023 12:56

T his year’s back-to-school activities in the economic capital, Douala is gathering steam as business premises are begining to be overcrowded with parents, guardians and students. The current situation is marked by raising prices of goods and services that some have termed inflation. With little means to take care of school needs and school fees, some family heads with bank account have resorted in getting the famous “school fees loan” given by most banks during summer holidays, while others count on “njangi” and other forms of borrowing. The first money parents lay hands on mostly go for kids registration in school. Currently, school premises are frequent by new pupils and students. In the case of those going into form one, admission is what preoccupies parents. Those that passed the Common Entrance and gained admission through interview into Government Secondary Schools and Mission Schools. Those not admitted through the normal procedure especially in Government secondary school resort to bribery and corruption with some school administration for admission. Upon admission, parents have to pay fees and the fees in mission and private schools is really much. Some mission schools accept FCFA 350,000 as first installment while the rest of the fees is determined by the amount of textbook and uniforms the student collected from school. Currently such fees transactions are mostly carried out before school needs like textbooks, uniform, school sheets are bought. Very few parents have placed orders for their children’s uniforms in tailoring workshops which range from between FCFA 3,000 and FCFA 6,000 depending on the material quality and style. It is also a busy period for traders in school bags and shoes. Some parents and big students prefer used ones while others go in for new and branded ones. New school bags for ...