Textbook prices in Hong Kong increase by 5 pc this year

Parents are paying an average of 5 per cent more for textbooks this year, a Consumer Council survey showed.

More than half the schools surveyed received discounts of only 5 per cent from book stores this year. They had a 10 per cent discount last year.

Two schools secured better bargains because they placed mass orders on behalf of their pupils.

The 5 per cent increase was higher than the consumer price index, which rose 4.1 per cent in the year to July.

"Parents have the burden of paying more for textbooks than the rate of inflation," said Professor Michael Hui King-man, chairman of the council's publicity and community relations committee.

The finding came from a survey of the textbook lists of 47 primary and 42 secondary schools in the city last month, the council says in the latest issue of its Choice magazine.

Other than the actual prices, textbook expenditure also varied with the number and kinds of books the schools chose.