Bamenda: Cost Of Keeping children Home

Parents suffer the extra burden of having children of school going age away from school.

From the look of things, pupils and students who have not resumed school since the teacher's trade union strike was called are the uninvited guests in many homes in Bamenda and neighbourhoods. On the streets and on the corridors of many homes, it is on most lips that such school children have become an extra burden. Parents are counting the cost with alot to show in inconveniences and extra efforts to keep them at home away from their natural academic environment. Cynthia Ngang, in the neighbourhood of Nkwen is at a loss on what to do with her 15-year-old son J. John, a student of a boarding school in Bamenda. In the absence of academic activities, she finds it difficult holding John back at home without any comprehensive insurance coverage for security in the neighbourhoods. That is the same story for many children who go on playing football on ghost streets and makeshift playgrounds till late. Away from that Martin Achidi told CT that the bill for their electricity consumption  has virtually tripled two months after his three children retired from boarding schools. It is not better with more mouths consuming food and water which was spared while the children were away in school. Some parents regret that the tuition fee already paid in school may never be retrieved without any teaching and learning fo...