Bustling textbook market ahead of new school year

A month ago, Ms. Thao went to all the bookstores in the city but could not buy some 5th grade books for her younger brother. In the 2024-2025 school year, 5th grade students will start studying textbooks according to the new curriculum. Therefore, Ms. Thao cannot borrow old books from previous classes.

"In July, I was looking to buy 5th grade textbooks and was told that textbooks would not arrive until August. Today, when I came back, all the books were on display, not as scarce as before," she said.

Also looking to buy textbooks before the new school year, Ms. Nguyen Quynh An (Buon Ma Thuot, Dak Lak) said that she found it very easy to buy books for her children.

"This year my child is going to first grade. Although I can borrow books from the previous grade, I want my child to have a new set of textbooks when he starts primary school," she said.

Ms. An added that she only had a little difficulty finding textbooks for each subject according to the set of books announced by the school. "There are up to 3 sets of textbooks for each subject. I had to ask the homeroom teacher many times to make sure I bought the right books for my child," she said.

This year, students in grades 5, 9 and 12 began using textbooks according to the 2018 General Education Program. According to reporters' observations at bookstores, textbooks for these grades are fully available with many different sets of books...

The price of each book ranges from 15 to 30 thousand VND/book. If purchased as a set, the price of the book set is around 200 thousand VND.

For grade 5 textbooks, the Canh Dieu book set (13 books) costs 225,000 VND; the Connecting knowledge with life set (13 books) costs 183,000 VND; the Creative horizon set (13 books) is 175,000 VND.

Textbooks for grades 5, 9 and 12 are fully available for sale ahead of the new school year 2024 - 2025. Photo: Anh Duc

Meanwhile, Ms. Vu Thi Hong (Hoang Mai District, Hanoi) can buy textbooks for her child right at school for convenience and to save time.

"My child is the first to study books according to the new program and from grade 1 until now, I have bought textbooks for my child from the school" - she said, adding that she feels very convenient and secure when buying books provided by the school. Because currently students use many sets of textbooks for different subjects, buying books for their children themselves will be very time-consuming and confusing. At the same time, there are many fake and smuggled textbooks on the market.

Ms. Hong chose to buy a complete set of textbooks and skill development books for her child. Photo: Provided by parents

Regarding prices, Ms. Hong said that the school sells textbooks at the price on the cover. Parents can choose to buy only textbooks for classroom teaching or buy the whole set, including skill development books and practice tools.

"The price of new textbooks is higher than previous books because the new books have more investment in terms of images and colors. For me, this price is still within my budget. However, I think the price of a set of books is quite high for some families," she commented.

Source: https://laodong.vn/giao-duc/soi-dong-thi-truong-sach-giao-khoa-truoc-them-nam-hoc-moi-1381981.ldo