The average expenses for secondary and primary form textbooks have increased by 6.9% and 0.2 % respectively this year as revealed in the annual survey on textbook expenditure conducted by the Consumer Council.
Based on the data collected from 56 primary schools and 41 secondary schools, the average textbook spending this year is found to be HK$2,091 for the primary and HK$2,016 for the secondary sections. A slight increase (0.2%) is noted when compared to the average textbook expenditure in 2009 for the same group of sampled primary schools, while a bigger increase (6.9%) is found with the secondary schools.
The survey reveals that the new academic structure affects the textbook purchase pattern for senior secondary students. The must-buy list varies from school to school depending on the subjects offered. Difference between the lowest and highest-priced list for Secondary 4 (Senior Secondary 1) and Secondary 5 (Senior Secondary 2) can be as high as 430% and 545% respectively.
In addition, average spending on textbooks for Secondary 5 under the New Senior Secondary (NSS) academic structure has risen by 50.9% compared to that for Form 5 under the old curriculum for the last academic year. In the past, Secondary 4 students, in their first year of the curriculum towards the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination (HKCEE), purchased most of the books to prepare for the HKCEE and hence the spending on textbooks in Secondary 5 would be less. With the senior secondary curriculum condensed from 4 years to 3 years under NSS, the pages and number of volume of textbooks have increased which consequently contributed to the rise of textbook spending. Besides, more books are required for certain subjects because of the addition of the elective parts under NSS, posing another reason for the increase in spending.
Price increase in books for matriculation classes in the old curriculum contributed to the rise in average textbook spending for Secondary 6 by 2.7% this year. Secondary 6 Arts Stream students in one school in the survey pay HK$290 on buying books for the compulsory subjects, while students in the Arts Stream of another school at the other end of the range have to spend HK$3,235 more for this year's textbooks.
The Consumer Council reserves all its right (including copyright) in respect of CHOICE Magazine and Online CHOICE ( https://echoice.consumer.org.hk/ ).