Publishers should cut cost of schoolbooks, says TUI

SCHOOLBOOK publishers should be in a position to cut prices because rising student numbers mean more sales, the Teachers’ Union of Ireland has claimed.

Some of the biggest firms made commitments to limit new editions and keep older versions of books in print following a meeting in June with Education Minister Ruairi Quinn.

But they have also told the minister rising production costs, including a 25% hike in the global price of paper in two years, have restricted their ability to lower prices.

Publishers will next month consider the minister’s request to take further measures, including price cuts to titles for the most common subjects such as English, Irish and maths, and greater discounts for schools buying in bulk to set up book rental schemes.

TUI president Bernie Ruane said the projected 20% rise in second-level students — nearly 60,000 more are expected than the current 322,000 enrolments by 2025 — will give publishers a chance to increase profits but also to give families a fairer deal.

“Many students... will not be able to afford the most basic school materials, including books, this year,” she said.

“This presents many obvious challenges to the education system but it provides an opportunity for publishers to recognise the pressures on families in the face of lower wages and rising unemployment.”

The code of practice being adopted by eight members of the Irish Educational Publishers Association says they will not revise any textbooks within four years or more, unless there are curriculum changes or demands from teachers. It also commits them to keeping books in print for at least two years after a new edition is published, unless annual sales fall below 500 copies.

A textbook voucher scheme is also to be introduced, allowing charities to buy titles of those publishers at discounted prices for families having difficulty with school costs. However, it is not due to take effect until next year as arrangements will have to be made with bookshops to facilitate the scheme.

Many parents blame teachers for adding new editions to book lists every summer, limiting the ability to buy second hand or pass books to younger children.

But Ms Ruane said they are generally more than willing to use older editions if the subject curriculum has not changed, as significant amounts of teaching time can be lost providing clarifications in classes where students have different editions of a book.