There needs to be a set of textbooks with lasting value soon.

(Baonghean.vn) -In the new school year, parents have to prepare to buy books, school supplies, uniforms with a large amount of money, and also contribute a lot to studying. On average, a set of textbooks on the market costs from 300,000 to 500,000 VND (including some pre-printed exercise books); Meanwhile, the old textbooks have the same content but the price is only half or cheaper (not to mention the fact that the next class will still use them). Therefore, old textbooks are consumed in quite large quantities in Nghe An.

The benefits

At used book stores in Vinh city, there are still many parents and students coming to buy books every day, even though the school year has been quite a while. Mr. Than, the owner of a book store on Nguyen Van Cu street, said: This school year, the store has imported and sold more than 600 sets of textbooks from grades 1 to 12, a much higher number than in previous years. He explained that this year the prices of many items have increased, including textbooks, so many people have chosen to buy used textbooks for their children to save money. Ms. Nguyen Quynh Trang (Quang Trung Ward) also had the same opinion, emphasizing: My child is in grade 5 this year, I let him use used textbooks not only to save money but also to teach him the awareness of saving and preserving books and supplies.



The new school year has been almost two months, but old textbooks are still in high demand.

Observing at the stores, we noticed that most of the imported old books are still very new and beautiful, with clear and easy-to-read letters. According to the sellers, customers are often very careful in choosing books, so the stores often check carefully, avoiding importing sets of books that are too old, have missing pages or have blurred letters. Ms. Quynh An (teacher at Le Mao Secondary School, Vinh City) said: Using new or old books does not affect the quality of teaching and learning, even students who use old textbooks are almost all students with good awareness and good learning. For families with economic difficulties or many children, using old textbooks will save a significant amount of money.



Every year, Le Mao Secondary School donates about 200 to 300 sets of old textbooks to support and help children from families with preferential policies and those in especially difficult circumstances.

There is still waste.

Despite the benefits, every year, a large number of textbooks are still thrown away. Ms. Phuong (Ha Huy Tap Ward, whose child is in 7th grade) lamented: Every year I buy new textbooks for my child, but at the end of the year, because my child does not take good care of them, the books are torn and cannot be used again, so they have to be sold to the scrap yard, the whole set can only be sold for 10,000 VND.

Usually, parents’ mentality when starting a new school year is “everything must be new”, so many families, despite their difficulties, still buy their children a new set of books to keep up with their peers. Many parents also believe that using new textbooks with brighter paper, clearer words, and easier to read than old books will help their children learn better.

If we do a simple calculation: each school year, the whole country has about 15 million students from grade 1 to grade 12, and each student uses old textbooks, the whole country will save up to hundreds of billions of dong. Meanwhile, in the whole country in general and Nghe An province in particular, for many families - especially in rural and mountainous areas, buying a new set of textbooks for their children is really a burden.

In addition, one of the factors that affects parents' psychology in choosing whether to buy old textbooks or not is the instability of the educational program. According to many teachers and parents, the curriculum changes every year, disrupting many lessons and lessons, leading to textbooks having to be adjusted and revised a little every few years. Invisibly, with that mentality, many parents have chosen to buy new textbooks for "peace of mind". Mr. Phan Huu Hoi (head of the health station of Hung Thang commune, Hung Nguyen), when asked about this issue, also had concerns: In the past, my family had 5 siblings, the curriculum was not as heavy as it is now, all of us only used the same set of textbooks, but we still studied well, all passed the university entrance exam, some became masters and lecturers. But the current curriculum is both heavy and unstable. I think the educational program needs to be compiled more concisely and stably.

The problem now is that the Ministry of Education and Training needs to compile a set of standard, simplified textbooks, suitable for the perception of students at each level and suitable for all regions nationwide, with long-term use value. Only then will the textbooks become companions to many generations of students, while at the same time reducing the burden of children's education costs for parents.

Vu Nguyen