Usually at this time of the year, parents already start buying books for their children while waiting for the beginning of the new school year.

Barely one week to the 2016-2017 academic year in Cameroon, many parents and guardians are still living in suspense due to the absence of some books. What has been the cause for worry is that some of books on the official book list are not found in bookshops.

Last week, parents could be seen going from one bookshop to another in search of books. At the Librairie St. Paul last Thursday August 26, 2016 in Yaounde, work was going on normally. Parents could be seen buying books and other school items for their children. Emmanuel Ondo Evezo’o, a parent, said he could not find all the books for his children even after searching the bookshops. Justin Ayang Dieudonné, a worker said all the text books were not yet available. He said there were new books in the syllabus but which were not yet in the market. He said the books that were still lacking were new books like Emergons 6e and Mathematiques 3e, Les Genies Mathematiques 5e, 4e, and 3e and some old books which are also not available like Classic Africaine. He however said he has hope that all the books will be available before the reopening date.

At the Pressbook Bookshop in EMIA Junction in Melen, workers were busy attending to parents who were anxious to buy all the textbooks for their children once and for all. The Branch Manager, Pressbook Yaounde, Eta Kingsley said 80 percent of the books on the official book list are already available. He said the delay in supply is due to the fact that some of the books are printed out of the country and most of them are revised every year. Another problem is that some publishers publish their books late to avoid piracy. He however said as compared to last year writers and publishers are more prepared and many books are not lacking.