Parents advocates for Textbook Reuse amid Economic Downturn

Parents have continued to bemoan the price of the textbooks they are required to purchase for their children as a new session is scheduled to start in September, even as elementary and secondary schools have ended for the term.

In addition to lamenting the high price, parents also wonder why younger students and pupils are not permitted to use their older siblings’ textbooks.

For a parent, Mrs. Omobola-nle, purchasing additional textbooks for her son when his older siblings already have the textbooks, is inconsiderate on the part of the school administrators.

“Parents need to sign a petition about this, in my opinion, and soon. My twin daughters go to the same school as their brother, who is also a student. Therefore, even though I own the same textbooks as the girls, their younger brother is unable to use them. Sadly, the majority of school administrators only care about their own bottom lines”, she said.

The main factor discouraging the reuse of textbooks, according to Mrs. Faith Aiwondagbo, is putting a workbook inside of one.

“It does not sit well with me to share the same experience as you. However, it is more the fault of the author and publisher since those books are now made with spaces for questions and answers, which makes it impossible to reuse. Mrs Aiwondagbo said,

Parents continue to blame the book value chain, particularly school owners, publishers, and the government, for their problems even as they bemoan the expense and suffering of purchasing the same set of textbooks for their children.

“I’ll say it again, we Nigerians are good at taking advantage of one another in any way we can, a parent named Abiodun Sunday said. Private schools would come up with anything to get their hands on their parents’ money. At the time, when I had four kids in the same school, they weren’t allowed to share textbooks, which I view as nothing more than wickedness.

Since the publishers and the owners of the schools are collaborating, it is the responsibility of the government to regulate this area of education. To get their publications approved, publishers must register their books with the ministry. It costs money to request approval.

These publishers, who also hail from Nigeria, want high sales and profits. How can they ensure that sales increase annually, then? But according to Joy Progress, adding workbooks or at least some of the contents of workbooks to textbooks will boost sales annually.