Soaring textbook prices eat into parents’ wallets

The rising cost of new textbooks is driving more and more Pindiites to second-hand book stores. Increasing price has become a serious issue, both for parents and students.

“Pirated versions have inferior paper quality and poor binding. I will search the shops for an older version of the original book first. If I don’t find it, then I will go for the pirated version,” says Barkat Ali, a father of a medical college student, from Mangraal Town.

“Publishers have been able to keep raising prices because students have to buy whatever books they are assigned. The price of copies with printed school names, available at designated shops recommended by schools, is higher as compared to the normal ones," says Aneeqa Haider, a chemistry teacher.

Students doing their engineering course say: “The prices of engineering books are becoming prohibitively expensive. And the high prices are beginning to discourage us from purchasing textbooks for our classes, despite the fact that we realize it may hurt our studies and consequently grades.”

“We can't shop around and find the most affordable option. We can, however, mitigate the rising cost of textbooks by looking for alternatives, such as buying used books and selling their books after the course has come to an end. But with institutions generally revamping textbooks or trying new publishers, chances of handing over textbooks to a juniors are also ruled out,” says Muhammad Ali Turabi, doing his master’s degree.

“In addition to ballooning tuition costs our wallets are being strained by some schools demanding a hefty amount at the start of a session in the name of educational material. Besides textbooks, increasingly, private schools are asking for learning resources to enhance students' understanding of a subject. For instance, a class IV student, has been prescribed 11 textbooks and 26 notebooks. In English, a class I student has a course book, a work book, and a literature textbook etc,” says Hameeda Rizvi from Gulzar-e-Quaid.

She adds: “As it is, the notebooks go waste, even if they are only 80 pages each, as only half the pages are used by the end of the year. While the price of textbooks can be justified with the colorful images, elements, graphics, a vibrant layout design and the printing cost involved, a few parents wonder why notebooks are so expensive.”

Manzar Naqvi, a book publisher says: “Every year book prices being used in private schools go up due to rising printing cost, paper prices coupled with shortage of papers.” According to him: “There is an increase in the price of books every year as in most cases the publisher supplies directly to the school or through a distributor, where margins are charged.”

“Rising tuition costs aren't the only thing driving up the cost of higher education. Textbook prices have skyrocketed in recent years. I have known for a long time that high textbook prices create lose-lose choice for students. They can either spend thousands of rupees to buy the textbook, or they can go without the book and accept the consequences,” says Amanat Hussain, a medical college principal.

“Imagine attending classes without the required textbooks? I have sometimes done just that. I had to decide whether to get the book or just skip it because it cost too much. It does eat into my parent’s wallet. When I take courses without a required book, I try to borrow it from another student,” says Feroze Hasan, a third year MBBS student.