Prices of textbooks up by 25 percent

The prices of textbooks have increased to 25 percent in Multan and other cities of Southern Punjab while many books are not available in the market with the start of the new academic year from April, and the parents are being forced to buy the new course books for their children, it was learnt on Monday.
In 2010 a 200-page notebook costed Rs 50 to Rs 65, but this year its minimum price has gone up to Rs 80, whereas in 2010 the low quality paper (0.5 gram) notebook's price stood at Rs 35 which is now being sold for Rs 50. Last year, the maximum price of a syllabus book of class 1 to 5 was Rs 80 to 160, but this year its minimum price is Rs 120 to 200, whereas each book of 'O levels' and 'A levels' of Oxford University costs around Rs 1,000.
The prices of stationery items, including school bags, have also increased recently, making them out of the reach of middle-class families. Polyester made school bag in 2010 was available at Rs 350, but in current year its price has gone up to Rs 500. Last year, low quality leather bag was available for Rs 400 but this year its price has gone to Rs 750. Unfortunately, various educational institutions have currently included new international books in their curriculum to maintain a high standard of their institution in the market.
Saeeda Fatima, a mother of a child claimed that the books' expenditure was more than school fee and unfortunately there was no check on private publishers. She said high prices had forced parents to buy second-hand books and this situation is creating inferiority complex among the children. Rana Bashir Hussain, who was purchasing books for his children at Sadar Bazar said this year the prices of books were unaffordable for middle class. He said school bookstores had created their monopoly in the market.
Fakhar Siyal, a father of two children, who was purchasing books at a bookstore in Gulgasht Market, said nation-wide it had become difficult to manage educational expenditures of children, as in the past two decades, school textbooks prices had increased to a great extent. Parents demanded of the government to play its role in order to control textbooks' prices by keeping a check on the booksellers.
They further said the government should take steps to ensure availability of books at affordable price so that everyone could be able to send their children for education to school. They said the authorities should direct the booksellers to start selling textbooks at a considerable discount and set up special bookstores to ensure availability of textbooks and ending the monopoly of private publishers and bookstores.