Schools told to exercise economy in book choices
Schools should choose wisely and economically when deciding on textbooks in order to avoid forcing parents to spend too much, an Education Department spokesman said.
The department said schools should consider the prices when selecting textbooks for their students. They should give the prices on textbook lists for parents' reference.
Students should not have to buy the latest edition of textbooks if the earlier editions owned by them could still be used for learning with teachers' assistance, the department said in a letter to schools.
It also said schools should not recommend extra teaching materials - such as exercises, tests and workbooks - unless there were good educational reasons.
The spokesman said prices of textbooks were determined by market forces.
However, he said the department was in regular contact with publishers' associations to ensure, among other things, textbook editions were not changed too frequently and that textbooks were made of light paperto avoid weighing down students' bags with heavy books.
