The Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) today highlighted that rising student numbers will increase the profits of school book publishers in the coming years and that this should facilitate a fairer deal for families.
TUI President Bernie Ruane said:
“It is no exaggeration to say that many students in schools in which TUI members work will not be able to afford the most basic school materials including books this year.
Projections of student enrolment show that there will be a considerable rise in numbers at second level in the coming years. It is expected that there will be a 20% increase from around 322,000 now to around 388,000 students by 2025.
This presents many obvious challenges to the education system but it provides an opportunity to school book publishers to show greater sensitivity in recognising the pressures facing families in the face of lower wages and rising unemployment.
Publishers will be in an enviable position in the current economic climate in terms of increased demand for their products as a result of there being more students, but they must now meet their social responsibilities.
We have asked for the Department of Education and Skills to introduce protocols in the past and we understand that publishers have put forward some pledges to the Minister. However, any protocols should be dictated by the Minister’s office and be mindful of the significant year-on-year increases in book sales that demographic changes will now dictate. Surely this should give publishers greater scope in helping families.
We can assure the public that teachers are generally more than willing to use the older editions of books once there has not been a curriculum change. The use of multiple editions can be detrimental to teaching and learning, with teachers losing a significant amount of class time providing clarifications.
Our members have been continually frustrated by new editions of books being released even when no syllabus change has taken place, with only slightly reorganised content as opposed to changed content in many cases.
For schools to operate a successful and effective book rental schemes, publishers would have to guarantee that new editions would not be issued unless there was syllabus change.
New editions are also published to include worksheets, notes for online content or updated content on a specific issue. However, these could be published separate to the main textbook and sold to schools at a much lesser charge. The main textbook could then be recycled and publishers would still have a market for any necessary newer material.
Workbooks are a key example of a resource that could be printed off by schools for usage when necessary as opposed to being an additional expense to families.”
The latest research from the Irish League of Credit Unions estimates the cost of schoolbooks for a second level student to be an average of €238 and uniform costs to be an average of €281. Worryingly, the same study estimated that almost two thirds of all parents admitted that back to school expenses will negatively impact family plans and paying bills.