Vietnam Education Publishing House said the prices of textbooks for grades 4, 8 and 11 are lower than those of other new curriculum books, by cutting costs and reducing profits.
On June 13, the Vietnam Education Publishing House announced the new textbook prices for grades 4, 8 and 11 in the two sets "Connecting knowledge with life" and "Creative horizon". These are two of the three sets of books approved by the Ministry of Education and Training, serving as a basis for schools to choose and teach from the 2023-2024 school year.
Accordingly, the price of textbooks for grades 4 and 8, including a set of 14-15 books, ranges from 250,000 to 300,000 VND. For books for grade 11, the price is about 350,000 to 390,000 VND, calculated based on the individual price of 16 books, including 9 books for compulsory subjects in the new program, 4 books for elective subjects and 3 specialized books.
In general, the price of these sets is 2-3 times higher than the price of textbooks according to the old program. However, in reality, localities and schools often do not choose all the books in the same set, but each set chooses a few books.
On June 15, the Vietnam Education Publishing House said that if comparing the average price of a book page (total cover price over total number of pages of the book set), the price of textbooks for grades 4, 8, 11 is 4-6% lower than the new books for grades 3, 7, 10 published last year.
"Although input costs such as materials and printing costs are constantly increasing, we have continued to cut costs to reduce the selling price of new books this year, including reducing profits," said a representative of the Vietnam Education Publishing House.
In addition, to support students in difficult circumstances, the publisher will spend money to donate textbooks to students and school libraries.
Last July, Vietnam Education Publishing House announced that its revenue in 2021 reached VND1,828 billion, 97% of which came from book publishing activities. Profit after tax reached VND287 billion - the highest level in the unit's history. At that time, the unit said that it was profit from many sources, not just textbooks.
Covers of some grade 4 textbooks of Vietnam Education Publishing House. Photo: Vietnam Education Publishing House
Vietnam will implement the new general education program (2018 program) from the 2020-2021 school year. Currently, the program is applied to grades 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, and 10. This September, it will be the turn of grades 4, 8, and 11, and by 2025, all grades will study the new program. The roadmap for replacing textbooks is also being implemented in parallel with the policy of "one program, many textbooks", eliminating the monopoly on publishing.
The price of new textbooks is 2-3 times higher than the old ones, which has caused controversy over the past three years. However, publishers assert that "the price of the books is newly declared, not increased". The price of new books is higher than the old books partly because there are more books in each set, the book size is larger, printed on thicker paper, with more colors, and more beautiful pictures than before. The compilation and publication are done with the capital of the enterprise, not using the state budget. When compared with the price of books in many countries, they assert that the price of Vietnamese textbooks is very cheap.
The Law on Prices and guiding documents stipulate textbook prices that are set by enterprises (publishers) themselves and are legally responsible for their correctness and appropriateness.
According to the Resolution of the 3rd session of the 15th National Assembly in June 2022, textbooks will be added to the list of goods and services priced by the State when the Law on Prices is amended. While waiting for the law to be amended, the Government directs relevant ministries to take measures to reduce textbook prices in accordance with economic and social conditions; continue to implement policies to support or subsidize textbooks for students in difficult circumstances, mountainous areas, highlands, and ethnic minorities.
Duong Tam
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