It's the school year but Nghe An parents are still 'red-eyed' looking for textbooks

Scarcity of textbooks

“We only have 2 copies of Canh Dieu’s National Defense Education books, but they were sold out 5 minutes ago,” was the answer that Ms. Tran Thi Ha (Le Mao ward, Vinh city) received from the owner of a used bookstore at the beginning of Nguyen Van Cu street. This is also the 5th store she has visited in over a week but still hasn’t found enough.Grade 10 booksfor children, including old books.

Sharing about this, she said: My child has just entered 10th grade, near the end of August, the homeroom teacher has just given the list of textbooks for the children. The number of books is not much but each book is a different type of book, because many publishers supply it, so it is very difficult to find. I have gone to buy many times but I am still missing National Defense Education books, History books, all of which are books in the Canh Dieu series.

Because she could not find books for her children, Ms. Ha had to ask her friends online for help by donating old books. Some books were harder to find, so she went to e-commerce sites to order them and accepted double the price because the shipping cost was more than the cost of the books.

After nearly 1 month of school, Yen Chi - a 10th grade student at Vinh University High School for the Gifted still has not found enough textbooks for herself. It took her almost an evening to run from the bookstore on Le Duan Street to the city's largest bookstore on Le Hong Phong Street, but she still has 3 books she has not bought, including 2 books from the Canh Dieu series and 1 book from the Ket Noi Tri Thuc series.

This female student also said that in addition to the bookstore in Vinh, she also asked her family in Do Luong to buy books locally but still did not have enough books. In case she could not buy books, she planned to buy books online or borrow books from friends to photocopy so as not to interrupt her studies.

Although the new school year has entered its second week, the number of parents and students coming to buy books at bookstores in Vinh City is still very large. In addition to 10th graders, students in other grades still have some books that are difficult to find. Ms. Lam Hoang, whose child is in 6th grade at a suburban school, said: My child came home from school and told his mother that there are 3 students in the class who have not been able to buy local education books. I ordered the books at the school myself, so I "left everything" to the teachers, so I did not know that my child lacked books. Now I go to the bookstore with red eyes but still cannot find them.

Passive in supply

The 2024-2025 school year is the first year that schools are allowed to proactively choose textbooks for students. In addition to inheriting some old books, many schools have also changed some textbooks, making it difficult for parents to find and buy them.

Registering to buy textbooks is even more difficult for first-grade students, especially 10th-grade students. Because, according to the school year plan, this year, it will not be until the last week of August that many high schools across the province will organize the school opening ceremony and advise students on choosing subjects and blocks.

After dividing classes, it will take a short time for schools to announce the list of textbooks, so even if parents are prepared, they cannot buy books for their children early. Not to mention, the new General Education program allows schools to use the same program but many sets of textbooks from many different publishers, so choosing books is difficult.

Previously, through understanding, this school year, in Nghe An, there were 3 units selected by publishers to supply textbooks and the supply was divided into different areas. However, it is possible that due to the inaccurate forecast of the number of books, some suppliers were not able to estimate the number of books according to the demand to order in advance from publishers. By the end of August, at the same time, the demand of parents and students increased, leading to a shortage of textbooks. Some shop owners in districts and towns even went to Vinh city to collect books, so the shortage of books occurred on a large scale.

Discussing this issue, Mr. Tran Xuan Toan - Chairman of the Board of Directors, Director of the School Equipment and Books Joint Stock Company - a textbook supplier for many years in Nghe An, admitted that there is a shortage of textbooks.

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The lack of textbooks is a matter of concern for our company at this time. As for the company, although we ordered books quite early, the fact that some other localities in the province came to collect books made it impossible for the company to meet the needs of consumers.

We have contacted many bookstores in other provinces and cities to supplement the book supply but the quantity is not much. The company has also placed orders with publishers but has not been able to supply enough because the publishers are also passive in printing.

Mr. Tran Xuan Toan - Chairman of the Board of Directors, Director of Books and School Equipment Joint Stock Company

According to the synthesis of the School Equipment and Books Joint Stock Company, currently many schools in Thanh Chuong, Quy Hop, Nghia Dan districts have directly contacted the unit to order some 10th grade books, in which the popular ones are Literature books (volume 1, volume 2), Literature learning subject books, Math books (volume 1, volume 2), Physical education for football, Physical education for volleyball, Physics, Chemistry, Economic and legal education, Technology: Design and technology, Technology: Cultivation technology of the Knowledge Connection book series. In addition, books such as Math learning subject books, History, Career guidance experience activities... of the Canh Dieu series are also being ordered by many districts.

However, in the current context, it may take a long time for students to have enough textbooks to study.