Pupils in a bind over school textbooks

IF the history/geography teachers are feeling sorry for themselves regarding changes in secondary curriculums, what about parents of secondary school pupils regarding textbooks?

I have in recent days been trying to organise my four daughters’ textbooks for the forthcoming academic year. Yesterday I pulled out various text books and workbooks from our attic in the vain hope that at least some of these could be re-used.

What really, really annoys me is not just the regular changing of textbooks but also the “must-have” additional work books which some subjects, including geography and history, seem to have.

I have a New Geo Workbook for Junior Certificate Geography which has never been filled in or, from its condition, actually used, and am told that it’s out of date and can’t be passed on or sold. I would be interested if other parents have found a similar problem?

The waste of money and of resources really bothers me. I can’t wait for laptops to come into our school. I have to spend so much money on books, buying four laptops would have been a cheaper option for me!

Cathy O’Rourke

Carrigaline

Co Cork