‘Workbooks should not cost more in schools’

FEDERATION of Stationers and Booksellers Association of Malaysia honorary president Datuk Tey Tong Seng said workbooks sold at schools should not be more expensive than those retailed at bookstores.

He said parents should not be paying more than the recommended prices, which are printed on the back covers of workbooks.

Commenting on complaints by parents that they are paying more for workbooks at schools, Tey said the “same workbook by the same publisher should cost the same at both the schools and bookstores”.

“Usually, teachers would give consideration to prices when deciding workbooks to recommend to their students,” he told China Press in a report published yesterday.

However, he said the same workbooks may be sold at a discount at bookstores holding clearance sales.

“Some bookstores might also have ordered a large quantity of stocks from suppliers to enjoy a good discount, enabling them to sell at below recommended prices,” he said.

On “three-in-one” workbooks, he said printers had combined them to reduce losses following the Education Ministry’s decision to enforce the primary school workbook guidelines that schools can recommend only one workbook for each of the core subjects for pupils in Year 4-6.

“Many printers have already printed workbooks meant for 2018 in June and they cannot be throwing them away.”