Money woes plague parents

Nadisha Hunter and Aliyah Lazarus, Gleaner Writers

Two weeks before the start of the new academic year, the negotiating skills of many parents were on parade in downtown Kingston as they tried to combat the difficulties of financing back-to-school expenses.

When The Gleaner visited the shopping district Wednesday afternoon, the streets were teeming with parents with lengthy book lists in their hands.

While some persons were distraught at the high prices of the school items, others were managing and were only getting last-minute materials.

Sellers on the streets said they had to drop the prices of their items to meet the needs of the buyers to secure a sale.

"Nothing nah gwaan 'cause the people dem nuh have no money. Sometimes them want we fi even sell the items cheaper than the money we paid for them," said vendor Kerry-Ann Blake.

Lurlene Williams, a mother of three, was one of the many parents in Kingston Bookshop, trying to cut down the number of books on the lengthy booklists.

"A only two books me can able to buy because me nuh have the money," she explained. "The books them on the booklists are for more than $18,000 and I don't know where I am going to get it."

The two books were the only items she had purchased since back-to-school preparations had begun, and she was still unsure when she would be able to shop again.

"I am frustrated because my children dem nuh get nothing yet. Uniform or nothing nuh buy yet," she lamented.

Dawn Nelson was evidently feeling the full brunt of the back-to-school struggle.

"Fi a likkle five-year-old, all thousand dolla mi a pay fi one book. Lawd man!" she exclaimed.

Good business

Despite the parents' concerns, store manager at Lerner Shops, Jeff Anderson, said items were flying off the shelves.

"The parents are doing well with the back-to-school shopping. The store is crowded most of the days and we are expecting to see even more people next week as many persons love to wait until the last minute to do their shopping," Anderson said.

Abdu Tulba, store manager at Twin City Store, said most school items were sold at discount to address the needs of the people who found it difficult to pay up.

At least one parent said the school preparations were not a big deal for her. She said her children would be recycling some items from last year.

"I teach them to care them things because I can't afford to buy the same things every year," Sonia Powell said.