Rubaiyat Maisha, a child, could not go to school for more than a year and a half due to the pandemic. School learning came to a standstill but her growth did not. So the school dress and shoes now became unfit for her. By this time, she never knew the whereabouts of notebooks, pens, and colored pencil boxes. As the government announced the reopening, Maisha went out with her father to buy some education materials.
Like the third-grader Rubaiyat Maisha, all the children in the country including the capital, are now in the same situation. These children are very happy to get the news of going to school after a long time.
The decision to reopen school led many parents to take their children to the stationery store to buy the necessary education materials.
Students came out of home for school after a long breakup of 18 months due to the coronavirus pandemic. Stationery traders are also seeing the light. Since the announcement of the reopening, students and parents have been flocking to the stationery shops to buy various educational materials.
After announcing the closure in March last year, the education minister declared the reopening on September 12 after an inter-ministerial meeting on September 5.
The government has decided to reopen the school on various conditions including body temperature tests, social distancing, and use of masks. With the closure of the school due to Covid-19, the stationery shops selling educational materials were also almost closed. These shopkeepers, who depend on educational institutions, are now very happy as classes resume at schools and colleges after a long time.
Chandan Reza, owner of Theater Corner, stationery and bookstore in front of Vikarunnisa School, told The Report.live that the opening of the school has boosted sales.
“But the bigger issue is the presence of students. We are meeting students. Hopefully, we will be able to get back to normal life by overcoming the corona fear. But we have to maintain social distancing,” he said.
Asked on price hike Reza said, "We are still selling our stock. Our pen business is at a very good stage. However, importing raw materials from China still has been remaining closed. Price seems to increase within days if the situation continues.
Visiting Bailey Road stationery shop 'Boi Bitan' and 'Boi Bichitra' the correspondent found a crowd of students there.
Md. Abdul Quddus of Boi Bitan told The Report that sales had dropped by 70 percent due to coronavirus shutdown.
“We are feeling optimistic as the school and college reopened. Today, after a long time, I have sold products worth taka about thirty thousand. Customers have been increasing for few days,” Quddus said.
'Boi Bichitra’ is another shop adjacent to Bailey Road. The shop was about to be closed due to the pandemic. But the reopening brought charms to its owner. While talking to The Report he said, “We are happy at the reopening. Although the price of many educational materials might go up. Some raw materials have to be bought from abroad, the supply of which has been stopped for a long time.”
Meanwhile, traders have not stockpiled these products due to extra risk. The owner of the Boi Bichitra also said that demand and supply could have a huge impact on prices.
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