SAD SAGA OF MOMS WHO STEAL SCHOOLBOOKS

THE Government’s failure to deliver on a budget promise has permitted an embarrassing new social trend. 

In his 2023-204 budget, Finance Minister Colm Imbert pledged to standardise textbooks.

Imbert decried “ever-changing booklists,” which, he said, “create additional yearly expenses for families.”

The Minister said: “In 2024, we intend to consult with stakeholders in the education sector for standardised textbooks as far as practical, and eliminate the need for unnecessary new textbooks arriving on the curriculum every year.”

Textbooks were previously standardised in 1996 by the Basdeo Panday administration.

Panday had acted on the recommendation of a bipartisan committee.

But that policy was reversed by the Patrick Manning Government.

In recent weeks, several mothers have been caught stealing textbooks.

While this is a crime deserving of punishment, the women have lamented the high cost of books for their children.

Single mothers, in particular, have been complaining about the costs, which they have to bear in addition to buying food and other essentials for their children.

Prices are “ridiculously expensive,” a mother of four said, in expressing a common opinion.

The issue of schoolbook prices has been on the national agenda for decades.

In 1992, the Cabinet appointed a committee, headed by Professor Kenneth Ramchand, on “making schoolbooks affordable and available.”

The then-Manning administration did not implement the recommendations.

In 1996, then-Education Minister Dr. Adesh Nanan introduced the measure, adding that “a decision has been taken that books will remain unchanged for a minimum of three years.”

Nanan added: “A new set of guidelines will then be issued to schools with respect to the prescribing of primary school books.”

He said that attention will then focus on secondary school texts.

The Ramchand Committee made six recommendations, including publishing the scheduled price of texts.

Nanan spoke of setting up a bulk book purchasing agency and the removal of duties on the importation of paper for printing.

A proposal for a standing committee on standardisation and review of textbooks “would be seriously considered,” he said.

Also in the works, according to Nanan, was a national council for textbook development.

The purpose was to “guide, promote, and assist in developing a local textbook publishing industry.”

A national literacy programme and improved school libraries were also touted.

The measures were tossed aside by the Manning administration.

In his budget presentation, Imbert announced introduction of a school supply grant of $1,000 for needy students.

But many parents have spoken of difficulty in accessing the grant.

One mother who received the grant said: “The $1,000 went only so far.”

In addition to the textbooks issue, the Government of Dr. Keith Rowley scrapped the grant of computer laptops to secondary school students.

Computers and relevant accessories were delivered by the administration of Kamla Persad-Bissessar.

Rowley said there was little educational value in the use of laptops in schools.

Apart from computers being a vital educational resource, some students now face a crisis of supply because of the steep costs of school texts.

Standardisation would have tamed that problem.