Cost of Form One items too high, say parents
Parents of students joining Form One flooded uniform and other school supplies shops to purchase all the required items.
They complained that on average, the items cost them as much as Sh30,000.
“We have spent over Sh20,000 here (uniform shop) and we still haven’t purchased other items like bed sheets, blankets, a metal box, mattress and books.
If you look at the whole picture, I’ll be spending around Sh50,000 on purchases alone. That is even before you factor in the school fees,” said Jackson Muthui whose son was expected to report to Nairobi School.
Peris Nduta, another parent said that she had to wait until the last minute to shop because it was not easy to raise the money.
There were long queues outside uniform shops with some establishments like School Outfitters forced to restrict entry into the store.
Parents accompanied by their children were only allowed to enter in groups.
One of the store operators Nassim Ali said that they had received nearly a thousand customers during the day.
He however allayed fears of the supplies running out noting that they had more than enough.
Some schools had attached a list of shops where the items, especially uniforms, should be bought leaving parents with little option.
Some of the items include; a pair of uniform, games kits, sports items like a hockey stick, some mandatory books like Atlases, a basin among others.
It was also a good day for bookshops as parents flocked towards them in search of Atlases, Bibles, hymn books and dictionaries.
“We have sold a lot of these books today so business has been good,” said Peter Murimi who runs Maguna Bookshop adding that they had not increased their prices.
Parents however said the prices were high with an Atlas for example going for more than Sh1,500.
The learners are expected to join their respective secondary schools in the course of this week.