It would be said without error that the 2015-2016 school year is rolling on with a major challenge in the book sector since reopening. Lack of text books on the curricula for the on-going academic year has persisted and fears are that it may interrupt some course studies if measures to salvage the situation are not taken.

Seven weeks already gone, the following text books are still unavailable across bookshops in Douala: Tam Tam Français, Science de la Vie et Terre (Planète Vivante), La Philosophie Ngoa Mebara, Ihr und Wir 4+ (Livre d’Allemand), Stay Tuned, Grammaire du France, Nouvelle Géographie, and Ordinary Level Mathematics, among others. Those that cannot be found in the city include Apostrophe and La Grammaire de Français, according to many bookshop managers.

Monkam Rodrigue, manager of a bookshop in Akwa, explained that local publishers have reiterated the fact that some of the books are in print and will be available soon. But seven weeks into the on-going academic year, they are still not available.

“Most parents accuse us of hoarding the books and creating an artificial scarcity in order to sell at high prices. Even though we try to make them understand that we are not hoarding the text books, some still blame us for not having secured them not knowing that the problem is that they are not just available,” he said.

Ngobe Marie Thérèse, a parent Cameroon Tribune met in one of the bookshops around Douala Bar, was hard put to comprehend the situation. She questioned the propriety of changing books on the curricula whereas the availability of new ones has not been verified and confirmed for a nationwide distribution.