VietNamNet Bridge – It could be good news for primary school students that the Education Publishing House plans to release thinner and lighter textbooks, which will hopefully ease the burden on primary school students’ shoulders.

Kiem said that there exists a contradiction between the demand for better quality of primary school textbooks and the need to make the textbooks lighter.

The problems lie in the fact that the textbooks for primary school students are always printed with many colors, which need glossy paper, while that kind of paper is always heavy.

Kiem has asked the Vietnam Paper Corporation to join forces to help settle the problem, so that primary school students can go to school with lighter schoolbags, while still maintaining high-quality textbooks.

General Director of the Education Publishing House, Ngo Tran Ai, said that the house, this year, plans to put out some thinner and lighter textbooks on a trial basis.

Regarding the prices of textbooks for the 2009-2010 school year, Ai affirmed that the price decreases will not be possible, despite the sharp decrease of paper price in the world market.

Nguyen Van Dong, Director of the Tran Phu Printing Company, Chairman of the Printing Association, said that the paper price skyrocketed to the highest-ever level in 2008. Though the paper price has decreased, it has not returned to the level it was in December 2007.

“We really hope the material prices and printing service fees can return to the initial levels, so that we can reduce textbook prices. However, it seems to be impossible in the context of the unpredictable global economic performance,” Ai said.

Ai added that the printing and publishing industry has been put in a new disadvantage as the Ministry of Finance has raised the input tax rate from 5% currently to 10% to be effective as of January 1, 2009. He said that the education publishing house has asked for a tax increase exemption for textbook printing.

Meanwhile, Deputy Minister of Education and Training, Pham Vu Luan, has only committed to providing enough textbooks to all students for the 2009-2010 school year, including poor students, while he did not mention the stabilizing of textbook prices.

(Source: VietNamNet, Tien phong)