Book-buying blues
Published:Tuesday | August 23, 2011 | 12:00 AM
- Parents in a bind as cash can't match prices for back-to-school texts
Nadisha Hunter, Staff Reporter
Andrea Thomas has only managed to purchase five textbooks from a lengthy booklist for her son, Davour Green, who will be sitting the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) next year, and from all indications she is unsure when she will be able to purchase the other of the more than $20,000 worth of books.
"It is really rough because the books are expensive. I cannot afford to buy all of them, and the GSAT year is a critical time, so I don't know what is going to happen," Thomas said.
She was one of several parents who were seen checking the shelves at Kingston Bookshop and Sangster's Book Stores in downtown Kingston yesterday as they sought to compare prices for the books.
A high level of distress was etched on the faces of some parents as they seemed confused by the high prices, compared with the cash they had to spend.
Thomas made it clear that her son, who attends Naggo Head Primary in St Catherine, won't be getting all the books listed for September as she simply can't afford them.
Dorrel McLaughin said she would have to purchase the books based on priority, as buying all the books now seems impossible for her.
"My daughter is going on to fourth form at St Hugh's (High School) now, and as you can see, it is a long list, full, both back and front, so it will be hard," she said while showing The Gleaner a booklist.
"Every year the books them go up and them getting out of our reach. I am trying to get the prices now so that I can buy them one by one," she added.
Andrea Thompson is also struggling to purchase the books.
"I realised that they are giving us this long booklist and the children are not using some of them, and it is so hard to be buying the books and then them don't use them," she lamented.
Melanie Blackwood said she was finding it hard to access the funds needed to purchase all the books as the prices were ridiculously high.
Struggle to cope
They were only a few of the persons who are struggling to cope with the increase in the prices for textbooks as the cost of educational materials has increased, on average, by five per cent in the run-up to the new school year.
The increase was among the findings of the annual school textbook survey, which was revealed during a press conference yesterday at the head offices of the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce in New Kingston.
The survey was conducted by the Consumer Affairs Commission (CAC) last month.
The average price increase within the Greater Kingston Metropolitan Area was five per cent, while for other locations it was four per cent.
The highest average price was recorded on the Carlong English A for CSEC, at 41 per cent, and Oxford Mathematics for the Caribbean, 31 per cent.
Dr Christopher Tufton, minister of industry, investment and commerce, said the increase was below inflation, but he raised concerns about the price movement at the secondary level, which he said calls for concern.
"When you dissect the numbers and look at specific categories, at the level of the primary school, there is a more consistent price movement in and around five percentage points.
"At the secondary level, however, there are outliers to those price increases above five percentage points and well above the inflation level, which for us at the ministry and the CAC is cause for concern as those price increases occur in core subject areas which are mathematics and English," Tufton said.
In the meantime, Education Minister Andrew Holness is encouraging parents to purchase as many of the books as they can, but they should shop wisely.
"I cannot say to parents, 'Don't purchase books'. We encourage parents to purchase as many texts as they can, but we also encourage them to be smart, wise consumers when purchasing textbooks," Holness said.
He encouraged parents to follow the endorsed supplementary textbook published by the ministry when purchasing the books.
"If parents follow that list, they will see the books that in the opinion of the Ministry of Education cover the curriculum, and if you stick to that endorsed list, your booklist should be manageable," he added.
The survey involved a total of 131 textbooks, which were divided into 99 secondary-level and 32 primary-level textbooks.
The survey was conducted at 56 book stores.
Persons are being advised to call the CAC at 978-4998 for more information or visit its website at www.cac.gov.jm for the full textbook survey report.