Thika town was on Sunday a beehive of activities as parents and students made the final back-to-school shopping amid uncertainties of a looming teachers' strike set to begin tomorrow.
Parents seemed to have ignored the strike threats and gone ahead to do their usual back-to-school shopping for their children.
The parents however complained of high cost of textbooks and uniforms which they observed to have continued to sky-rocket over years.
“Last year a time like this I bought these books at a much lower price, right now I will have to send my kid who is in class five back to school with two books less. The money I had could only cater for 3 books out of the required five,” Dennis Kamau, a parent said.
Lydia Wanjiku, a books seller at Text Book Centre, however blamed the appreciation on taxation.
“In this financial year, a 16% VAT was introduced on all text books thus the high price,” she said without divulging more.
The high price of uniforms though could not be fully substantiated only attributing it to the forces of demand and supply.