The Consumer Council's latest survey on book costs for primary and secondary school students in the new school year found that book prices rose faster than inflation over the same period. Some schools also required the purchase of both e-books and physical textbooks.
Some parents called the radio station today (16th) to complain that their fourth-year-old son's textbook fee is as high as 5,000 yuan. He believes that publishers can give away e-books for free along with physical textbooks: "Buy books buy poor parents."
Hong Kong e-textbooks Zeng Huimin, president of the association, pointed out that she does not approve of "paper and electricity flying together", that is, buying a set at the same time, but the market may have its own needs. She also mentioned that e-books involve development and maintenance costs, and the price must be more expensive than physical books in the long run. There is little room for downgrades.
Some primary school principals said that the school has controlled and reduced the cost of books for each grade, and there is no bundled requirement for parents to buy a set. They believe that the school community can communicate with parents more to help reduce the financial burden.
▼On September 3rd, some parents went to Hanrong Bookstore to play textbooks for their children▼
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Consumer Council Report: Book fees for primary and secondary schools increased by 5.7% and 2.9% respectively
The Consumer Council's survey found that the cost of books for primary and secondary school students in the new school year increased by 5.7% and 2.9% year-on-year respectively, both higher than the 1.7% inflation rate over the same period.
The average book cost for the new school year in elementary school is $3177, and the middle school $2944
The average purchase price of books in the new school year of primary schools was 3,177 yuan, a significant increase of 5.7% year-on-year, an increase of 5.3% higher than last year; the average purchase price of books in the new school year of secondary schools was 2,944 yuan, an increase of 2.9% year-on-year, slightly lower than last year.
The study also found that more than 80% of primary schools and more than 70% of secondary schools have at least one electronic textbook on their book lists. Most schools choose to buy a set of both electronic textbooks and physical textbooks. They have not fully switched to electronic textbooks. soared.
Parents complain that publishers often revise their editions and cannot use second-hand textbooks
Some parents called the radio program today to complain about the increasing cost of books. She mentioned that her son, who is studying in Form 4, spends as much as 5,000 yuan on books. To undertake the use of second-hand textbooks, "Many are only revised one or two editions, but they have to buy the books at a cost. Is it possible that Mi Publishing House has a spear?"
She also pointed out that her friend's children need to buy both electronic and physical textbooks. "Since the content is the same, Dianjie should be bought together, and Dianjie publisher will not give it away for free?"
The Electronic Textbook Association does not support the simultaneous purchase of electronic and physical textbooks
Zeng Huimin, president of the Hong Kong Electronic Textbook Association, mentioned that the association does not approve of "paper and electricity flying together", that is, buying both electronic and physical textbooks as a set. Use needs, such as teachers' convenience for teaching, or parents' difficulty in e-books to review for their children, etc.
She emphasized that e-books involve development and maintenance costs, and different support systems such as IOS and Android versions must be produced. The cost and price of e-books are inevitably higher than those of physical books, and the population of school children is reduced, so there is little room for downward adjustment in the long run.
She also said that e-books are not simply converted to PDF versions, "with pictures, sounds, paintings, and bookmarks and notebooks."
She continued that the Education Bureau has promoted the installation of Wi-Fi in schools and subsidized the purchase of tablet computers. In the past five years, the trend of using e-books in academia has increased significantly. Therefore, e-commerce companies have also increased the supply of e-books developed by various subjects. About 70% of subjects have both electronic and physical textbooks. .
Primary school self-compiled textbooks and purchased books as needed to reduce the burden on parents
Kong Weicheng, principal of Ling Ai Primary School in Tin Shui Wai, Sheng Kung Hui, pointed out that the increase in book prices must be a fact, and it is believed that it may be related to inflation and the epidemic. , including self-editing teaching materials and choosing the appropriate number of books according to the needs of the grade. "There are four books in a year for Chinese, and four books are purchased for some grades, but only two books are purchased for the one-year class."
He mentioned that the fifth- to sixth-grade mathematics subject at his school had been experimented with e-book learning earlier, and the school did not require a bundled purchase of physical books, "and no parents offered to buy them." From the perspective of parents and want them to feel at ease, I suggest buying a set, but I think the two sides can communicate more to save the cost of buying books.
In the same program, the Director-General of the Consumer Council, Wong Fung-han, pointed out that some booksellers have reduced the discounts on book purchases, and most schools require students to purchase sets of both electronic and physical textbooks, especially for computer and geography subjects, which has increased the cost of books.
She also mentioned that some schools have added life and social subjects, computer subjects, and Chinese history subjects in order to prepare students for high school selection, and each subject requires the purchase of textbooks.
▼On September 3rd, a group of parents and students went to Seiko Press to pursue books▼
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