Save money on School Books

The school holidays may just have begun for some but that also brings with it the perennial problem of the school book list. The school book system in Ireland does not work. It is run by the publishers for their own benefit.

The catch call of successive ministers for finance that the school book system is out of their control is not only untrue but faintly pathetic. We will have to wait and see if the recent murmur's of progress from Minister Ruairi Quinn bear fruit.

Publishers can create new editions of its books every year, the schools think it must have the most recent edition to ensure compliance with the syllabus and hence add them to the book list. This means that often perfectly good books are effectively useless after the use of one child, preventing passing it on to younger siblings. Without leadership from the Minister and Department, publishers are unlikely to kill the duck that lays the golden eggs.

We only need to look at some of our near European neighbours to see a better and more equitable system in place that we could mimic. The Department of Education bulk buys all the books required by the students, these are distributed to the schools and children for free. At the end of the school year the books are handed back and there is only a charge if the book is lost or damaged. The same book can be used for years as the department will not sanction a new print unless the syllabus changes accordingly.

In the lead up to the election we heard a lot about the creation of a 'new Republic'. This would be a great way to start the change, show that we are a mature country that is run by the people, for the people and stop pandering to the narrow business interests of the publishers.

Until a change takes place you will still need to get those books this year, http://www.schoolbookexchange.ie/ is a resource that brings buyers and sellers of second hand school books together for free and they claim that you can save 66% on the cost of your books.

FS