Last year the Education Minister, Petter Saint Jean, raised concerns about the number of text books required by students at Grade 6 level. Well let me tell you, the minister’s concern is nothing compared to the shock, horror and disbelief of parents at the number and cost of text books at all levels.
The cost of the text books required by my son, now entering his third year at the Dominica Grammar School, adds up to almost one thousand dollars.
This begs two questions: why so many and why so expensive.
First, let us investigate the high cost of text books. Over the last thirty years, due to improved printing technology, the cost of books in general has gone down. However, over the same period the cost of text books has risen dramatically. Given that the publisher has a guaranteed market and a captive audience – 16 English speaking Caribbean Countries subscribe to the CXC syllabus – the price should be less. But when it comes to text books, the traditional factors that exert a control over prices don’t exist: the consumer has no choice. You are told what you must buy.
Secondly: why so many. Are frequent new editions really necessary and why does the life span of a book cover only one year out of six. Mathematics and the English language have not significantly changed in centuries. The properties of a circle remain the same, as does the use of nouns and verbs.
Looking through my son’s past text books only a fraction of the pages are dog-eared and pencil marked, suggesting that 90% of the contents have not been needed. One expensive text book has never been used at all! Curiously, Business Studies, the one subject that might benefit from up to date material, requires no text book.
Incidentally, the combined weight of text books, exercise books and other contents of the school bag must exceed health and safety requirements for a child. Even if the child can take the weight, the bags can’t. The stitching and zippers begin to go before the end of the first term.
This brings us to a third question: why text books at all.
We now have the benefit of the internet and every student has a tablet. Hence, we have a most amazing resource tool, but one that is not being used to its full potential. When computers were first introduced to UK schools in the 1990’s, I relayed a day-to-day account of work in progress on a piece of sculpture that was specially commissioned for that purpose. These and subsequent diary pages were eventually accessed by schools and colleges through the world. With the advent of tablets, I began a similar site for Dominican students. However, the education authority showed no interest in alerting schools, nor the press in informing the general public. Hence, my virtual notesforartstudents.blogspot.com soon became virtually dead.
But technology aside, the most ingenious teaching device ever invented has been around for centuries. I refer to the blackboard!
When I went to Secondary Modern School in the UK in the 1950’s, there were no text books. Teachers taught from the blackboard. A blackboard is cost effective, focuses the class and has endless creative possibilities. Although most of my teachers had never attended College, their teaching was pure theater. They could hold the most unruly class spell bound. But if the attention of Johnny on the back row wandered, the teacher’s well-aimed blackboard duster soon brought him back to earth – with good humor all round. For literature, one book was passed around the class and the children read aloud in turn. Classroom walls were decorated with art work and along the corridors hung prints from famous paintings. It was along those corridors that I first saw the work of Degas and Vincent Van Gogh.
Let me assure you that I am passionate about books, learning and literature. Furthermore, I firmly believe that good teachers are worth their weight in gold. But an over-reliance on text books is not the best way of learning, nor is it the best way of teaching.
Titiwi, careless, unsubstantiated insinuations could land you in a court of law. We have lost respect for people’s reputations in this country and it is a dangerous trend. Where is the evidence that lead you to make the assertions that you have? In this era of social media we tend to think it ok to cast aspersions on others because we can hide behind pseudonyms. This must stop!
So, I might suggest that someone scan each of the textbooks into a pdf file and upload the scans to torrentz like Pirate Bay or Library Genesis where they can be shared as digital editions and/or printed out. All the books for one grade can be included in a folder for downloading. Then every child, no matter her or his economic status can be assured of having their books for classes. To me its more important that our children have access to the educational material they need, than increasing the profit margin of the billionaire class in the USA.
DNO
Thanks for using your power to prevent me from expressing my thoughts and comments like everybody else without insulting or denigrating anyone, just because you may have agreed with the misleading and downright inaccurate statements made by two of your contributors.
When you all are done, talk about Mr. Skerrit. I’ve always known that if some of you or your cohorts get anywhere close to the seat of power we will get a real taste of the very things that you condemn now.
Enjoy your power but there are more than one ways to skin a cat. Someone will move to litigation one of these days and I hope you all will be able to pay for the destruction of people’s good name which goes on here!
Thanks DNO for condescending to allow my final comments but you have deleted my two other posts challenging the information put out by two of your contributors.
If you are comfortable with this type of journalism then so be it! I wish you all the best in this little country of ours which is fast becoming a literal war zone of destructive innuendo and allegations which cannot stand up to any serious challenge. The damage which is not completed on certain radio stations is crossed and dotted here!
ADMIN: We do not delete comments unless they violate our terms and conditions. If your comment did not appear, then a number of issues, including technical, could have gone wrong. The system is not 100 percent perfect. You can always drop us a line at [email protected] or call 275-3253 to query. Don’t think there is someone with an evil smile maliciously deleting comments.
Thanks for some kind of response from your admin. but I saw comments on dates later than mine and find it very odd that my both comments disappeared. I will now accept your explanation and drop the matter.
As a nation with government that prides itself on education it galls me that every time I’m sent a book from overseas I have to custom-clear it at the post office? Admitted, the charge is not high but why duty on books in the first place? For the same reason it is detrimental to levy duty on computers as they are first and foremost tools to help us widen our skills and knowledge.
Very good article and well stated by a lot of the comments.
Totally agreed Mr. Burnett; this s…stem is all about greed for profits to get a few people wealthy! It hurts me to see how heavy a bag that these children have to carry,i do feel sorry for them. I’ve asked my nieces and nephews how much of the books do they use and it’s usually not all of them. Most of the time,the books have no use ! The people in the shitstem knows that,but they will do nothing to change it,cause they all are part of the evil bestowed upon the poor people. The behavior of those in authority are similar to that of a big fish feeding on the small fishes! As far as i am concerned,education should be free and fully paid for by the state!
can you imagine for a little 5 years old school child at the Light House Academy – her text books adds up to over $600 . this baffles me
You know what!! I just think that this is way out of order. Cause living in the UK with kids the only thing my son goes to school with in his book bag is a bottle of drinking water everyday lol. The school provides all stationary and school essentials for the kids. To the Education minister sort it out cause as my granny always say money don’t grow on trees. The kids are the future of the country don’t put strains on the parents cause it will affect the kids education. Come on, use some of the dosh we sent to assist during Tropical Storm Erika to assist the parents in providing some school necessities for the kids.
Wow, $1000? Certainly that needs to be investigated. I’ve always suggested the cheaper variety of PDFs or ‘scanned books’ to be used on the tablets which I had to resort to while in college because of the sheer size and cost of books. However, as many people have said, education is becoming more of a business than human resource development and that’s the sad reality of it all. It’s up to the publishers though to make that transition. Stores like Jays, in reality, have to also bear a lot of costs including the publisher costs and stocks which will never be sold.
Lockers? Are we in North America?
Lockers, desk with locks, somewhere that they need to store the books so they don’t have to keep logging the heavy books back and forth! Just substitute locker for another word for storage SMH
Thank you LuClu…..some people should just not comment.
Locker is a perfectly acceptable English noun, used in the U.K. also, to describe a small lockable cupboard or compartment, as listed in the concise Oxford dictionary.
I visited Jays when I was home and bought a text book for my niece here in the US, because I thought….shoot IDK what I was thinking lol. It was a phonics book, I think it cost me between $70-80. My niece loved the book so I looked into the next level up. Long story short the book is used as in the homeschooling system here in the US and costs less than $10USD!! With that being said, if I’m purchasing one book for $26XCD and you’re buying bulk, I’m pretty sure you purchase price is NOT $26XCD. I understand that there are overhead and fringe fees involved….but it’s supposed to be distributed no? Not applied per item. I love Jays, I love that he is a philanthropist and he gives back a lot to the education fund, various organizations and individuals. However, the cost of books are just too d@mn high and needs to be reviewed by the authorities.
I’m mostly with you here, except that in a market system prices are reviewed by your competitors, not by government.
It’s 2016. There’s no need to rely on printed books from a monopoly commercial publisher. It would be much, much better to have those materials be developed by participating educators throughout the Caribbean as open educational resources, and released freely to students on tablets or Chromebooks.
Who do you think prepare the books? Educators my dear; some of them are right here in our classrooms. Go figure. Even the Chief Education Officer Blaize has published some of the texts being used in our schools.
I’m aware. I meant those who would be interested in continuing to do so under a different development model.
Very well stated. What a waste of money that people could better use.
Thanks for bringing awareness. Nice piece
“Fools will make money but wise men will spend it,” Grandma taught us. Please don’t blame Jays; blame the Ministry of Education & HRD. They refuse to use their heads and to use technology appropriately. And the parents do not care as they can get “help” from govt. and the Education Trust Fund. Just a complete waste of scarce resources. We like to work HARD but not SMART.
HOTEP!
Roger, you must realise that this is mostly about business and not education. It is about making money by making it compulsory for students to have certain books from certain publishers, supplied by certain dealers that may have a certain relationship with certain educational authorities, to the exclusion of everybody else. One can not claim that there is a healthy competition for the supply of prescribed text books in Dominica, is there?
DNO
My two comments to you have done a disappearing act but that’s okay! I’ll find another medium! I wish you all the best in your selective journalism!
I remember my time st the Convent High School, when the text books were passed down to the next crop of intakes.
We did not do too badly with our limited number of Second hand text books!
Someone is making a great deal of money at the expense of those who are scrimping and saving to provide their children with a good education!
Nice piece. I have said the same thing over and over. 1 plus 1 has never changed, and will be 2 no matter whst book it is in. Colleges do the same thing and it was because of deals with publishers and professors and the goal to make education a profitable business. The funny thing is the most important lessons in life on how to be successful does not come from a text book. This is only about profitability for book publishers and has nothing to do with good education.
Tell me about it. I bought 4 text books that came up to almost $300, for first form. It is ridiculous that kids need 5 English and 4 Maths book in grade six. Some of these books are never used. Jay’s must be making millions.
Additionally, the schools have no lockers. Therefore, the kids must carry these heavy bags on their backs.
totally agreed and yet the amount the government gives for scholarships and bursaries do not change and by the time the children reach on third form parents either have to buy their books or be subjected to some really old ones
You are so right…I seeing little 6 grade kids carrying some kind of big bags that I never even had to carry in High school. And I bet they don’t use all those books every day. And the price self….killer!