“Textbook Quality Low, Cost High”

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32352, 18 July 1970, Page 21

“Textbook Quality Low, Cost High”

Imported secondary-school textbooks were rising in price, yet the binding of some was so bad that they were falling to pieces within 18 months, the Shirley Boys’ High School board of governors was informed on Thursday. These comments were the basis of a discussion that latested more than 20 minutes during the presentation of the school’s June budget The chairman of the board (Professor C. J. Wilkins) said that the cost of new textbooks from overseas had increased sharply over the last few years, probably because of devaluation. The headmaster (Mr M. K. Denholm) said there had been a small increase in the textbook grant last year, and that the Government was conducting a survey of book prices. He said that text books usually cost between $7 and $9, yet some American editions had to be replaced after 18 months. They had deteriorated to such a degree that they could not be rebound. They were “entirely unsatisfactory.” “The school’s bookbinding department has saved tis ‘ thousands of dollars, but 1 these books have gone past

the stage at which they can be repaired,” said Mr Denholm. “One ot the great problems is that too much information is crammed into one volume, making the books heavy and therefore open to damage, j Most could easily be split into two volumes.” Professor Wilkins said that at least in his subject, chemistry, New Zealand did not necessarily get the best value for the money spent “New Zealand is too small a country to write its own textbooks, and the ones we import often are crammed with too much information . . . much of it irrelevant” However, the board considered there was little it could do about the matter.