17 hours ago
Parents made to buy books from pvt publishers at double the cost
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Hyderabad: With schools set to reopen on June 12 for the new academic year, many parents have complained that book prices are skyrocketing, forcing them to spend around Rs 10,000 on books for primary classes alone.
They claim that schools are forcing them to purchase books from private publishers when more affordable options are available.
"For two children under the age of 10, we paid over Rs 22,000 for books. Why are these books so expensive? What makes them different to books from the National Council of Educational Research and Training or state boards?" asked K Ramana, a parent.
Another parent, Sri Lakshmi, said that she had paid Rs 7,000 for her son's nursery books.
"I really don't understand what they are going to teach a three-year-old, apart from numbers, the alphabet and rhymes. Why do we have to pay so much just for his books? It just looks like another unregulated area where schools are making money," she added.
Parents alleged that, although schools receive discounts from publishers, they do not pass these on to parents. This forces parents to pay the MRP printed on books, leaving managements with a profit margin of 40% to 50%, sometimes even more.
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"Schools are not supposed to sell books on their premises. However, many schools have stalls set up on campus. Parents are forced to buy books from these stalls at high prices, even though the same books are available more cheaply online or at stalls outside," said K Venkat Sainath, organising secretary of the Hyderabad Schools' Parents Association.
The Telangana Education Commission said that they are aware of the issue, having received several complaints from parents. "This is a blatant violation of the rules. Schools are not allowed to sell books. They must release the names of publishers and vendors so that parents can buy from wherever they want. But schools are forcing parents to buy books and even book covers at exorbitant prices from the school itself. The same goes for uniforms, shoes and other items.
We are going to raise this issue with the school education department," said PL Vishweshwer Rao, a member of the commission.
