With the academic year set to start in June, shopping for school accessories is picking up pace in the capital.
A students’ market organised by the Secretariat Staff Cooperative Society at YMCA Hall since April 4 is getting a massive response from the public. The society has been running the market in the summer months for the past 30 years.
Almost everything needed by students to go to school or college — notebook, pen, pencil, eraser, scale, sharpener, uniform, bag, water bottle, lunch box, umbrella — are available in the market.
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Most products, including those of major brands, are sold here at less than the market rate, bringing in a dedicated clientele. The most sought after in the ongoing market is the notebook made by the society.
“We have been using the society’s notebook for five years. It is better in quality and cheaper than those of other brands,” a schoolteacher who had come to buy stationery said.
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Many schools and organisations buy the notebooks which are available at almost 40 per cent discount.
“We depend on the students’ market to purchase notebooks for the entire academic year,” Nimmi Manoj, a teacher at Good Shepherd School said.
A few organisations buy the products for distribution in their own areas. “People enquire about the opening date of the students’ market in March itself. That’s our success,” says a society official.
To buy products from the students’ market, the Secretariat staff get an interest-free loan of Rs.40,000. Now, a new outlet has opened near the Legislative Assembly and one only for Secretariat staff in front of the Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation’s Maveli store behind the Secretariat. The market will be open till June 15 on all days, except Sundays and public holidays.