Textbooks Under Vietnam’s New Program Cost 2-4 Times More than Old Ones

The prices of textbooks set under Vietnam’s new general education program are two or four times as much as those of the previous program, assessed Mr. Nguyen Dac Vinh, head of the Vietnamese National Assembly (NA)’s Committee for Culture, Education, Youth, Adolescents, and Children.

Speaking at a thematic supervision session of the NA Standing Committee on August 14, Mr. Vinh, who is also vice head of the supervision team, cited data from the Vietnam Education Publishing House (VEPH) as saying that a textbook set for the first grader under the new program is priced at VND179,000-VND194,000 ($7.4-$8), higher than the old ones at VND54,000.

The high price of textbooks has caused difficulties for many people, especially those living in areas with difficult socio-economic conditions and ethnic minorities, he said.

Besides, textbooks coming bundled with exercise books and reference materials have led to an increase in textbook and publishing costs.

In conclusion, the supervision team said that the VEPH had not performed its responsibilities and duties well in compiling, printing, and publishing textbooks, resulting in violations, high publishing costs, and exorbitant prices of textbooks.

The team asked the NA to consider letting competent agencies comprehensively investigate the identification and use of the publishing costs of textbooks under the new general education program. (PLO, Tuoi Tre, VnExpress, VTC, NLD)