Back To School Woes

Schools across the island will reopen on Monday for the new school year after the eight-week summer break for students and teachers. As a result, last week parents and students were busy with last-minute preparations for orientation sessions and returning to classes. Obtaining books and supplies was an essential part of the back-to-school preparation. However, for some, it came down to the wire, with the last shopping day of the week, Saturday, seeing much activity around Castries with late back-to-school shoppers. The city experienced bumper-to-bumper traffic, long lines, and heavy activity at book and stationery stores, school uniform outlets, and Online Shopping companies. Outside one particular bookstore, parents appeared quite frustrated while standing in the scorching heat because the store would only allow a certain number of customers to enter at a time. “I have been coming here for over a week now for three books that I am missing for my children and they keep telling me to come back,” Irene, a mother of two, told St. Lucia Times. “I came here today and there are so many people here that I am waiting for my turn and the heat is unbearable,” she said. St. Lucia Times understands that...