School textbook publishers came under scrutiny in the Consumer Council's annual survey on textbook revisions.
This year's survey was based on a sample of 4 sets of textbooks - 2 each on the subjects of General Studies and Putonghua. A total of 8 volumes were examined.
The objective is to assess on the necessity or otherwise of revisions in primary and secondary school textbooks.
It was carried out with the assistance of 3 expert groups in the education field drawn from the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Hong Kong Institute of Education, Grant Schools Council, and Hong Kong Aided Primary School Heads Association.
The results were positively satisfactory: 5 samples were judged "necessary to revise" while the 3 others "quite necessary to revise".
There was no samples rated as "reprint with minor amendments" requiring, therefore, no new revised edition.
The assessment criteria focused mainly on changes and modifications in respect of contents, chapters and sections, design and layout.
The survey showed that the changes on the number of pages between the old and new editions ranged from -1 to +8 pages.
All of the revised textbooks sampled were subsequently priced higher, increasing by 7.6% to 9.8%.
All of the sampled textbooks were in compliance with the rule forbidding revision within 3 years of publication - as the old editions were published in the years between 2002 and 2005.
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