Back to school dash for students and parents

Chuka town has been a beehive of activity in the last two days as schools reopened for their second term.

Traffic snarl-ups were witnessed in Chuka town as school re-opening activities continued, causing congestion as students crowded the shops, supermarkets, and the matatu terminus as they rushed to shop and commute to their various schools.

It was a boom for traders since their sales in the past two days shot up, making them smile all the way to the bank.

Fridah Kawira, a trader at Chuka open-air market, explained that their sales have improved since students are buying essential things like socks and underwear for school purposes.

“The students rarely bargain on commodity prices since they don’t use their hard-earned cash as they depend on their parents; some only said that the prices were not as they had left them previously,” Kawira explained to KNA.

The fare, too, was not the same as on normal days. The fare drastically changed due to the school’s reopening.

Tony Abraham, a student, explained how his journey from Nairobi was quite expensive, lamenting that he was unfairly charged Sh1,000, Sh300 above the normal fare of Sh700.

Mary Gosheni, a parent who was shopping for her children on Tuesday, explained that it has been hectic for them to prepare for the re-opening of schools.

“I have a secondary school student who needs to report to school with at least half of the school fees, and I also have a grade 6 student who I need to prepare because she will sit for an examination,” she explained.

She further revealed that the CBC slot is not easy to manage because the children expect to be helped with some difficult assignments.

“Imagine I arrive at home from work; I need to cook, prepare for the next day, and at the same time, I need to help my kid with their homework,” she said, adding that now that the break is over, they are back to the same routine.