Big differences in textbook bills found
Because different schools choose different textbooks, the bills for parents vary. Some pay five times what others do, according to the Consumer Council.
The average textbook spending this year per student is HK$2,091 for primary schools and HK$2,016 for secondary schools. But while some Form Four pupils only pay HK$815 to buy the required books, others pay HK$4,315. Similarly, some Form Five students only need to spend HK$578 to buy all the books they need, but others must spend HK$3,725.
The council uncovered the discrepancies after comparing the textbook lists of 56 primary schools and 41 secondary schools.
Ambrose Ho Pui-him, chairman of the watchdog's publicity and community relations committee, said the council did not seek to establish whether the differences were linked to which bands schools were in (the assumption being that more prestigious schools require pupils to use more expensive textbooks).
Ho said the new senior secondary school academic structure meant the average spending on textbooks by Form Five students had risen 50.9 per cent compared to what they had to spend under the old curriculum last academic year. Then, Form Five students spent an average of HK$1,415 on textbooks, compared to HK$2,135 this year.
That was due to a condensing of the senior secondary curriculum from four years to three under the new academic structure, he said. Textbooks contained more information. 'That has jacked up the price,' Ho said.
But the council said some schools had listed reference books as 'must buys'.
It believed that those were unnecessary and had put extra financial burden on parents.
'We just wonder if it is necessary for each student to own a set of those reference books,' Ho said.
Meanwhile, the council found the cost of textbooks had risen by between 0.1 per cent and 6.9 per cent this school year compared to the previous academic year.
