SAVING TO PARENTS

Dominion, Volume 25, Issue 278, 19 August 1932, Page 12

SAVING TO PARENTS

Primary School Books CONTRACT EXTENSION Minister Answers Critics ECONOMY TOTALS £40,00® Parents of primary school children throughout New Zealand will save a total of about £40,000 as a result of the Government’s action in extending for four years the contract of the publishers for the supply of school books, according to a statement by the Minister of Education, Hon. R- Masters, yesterday. The Minister replied to criticism of the decision to extend the contract, and he pointed out the advantage of having secured an immediate reduction of 22* per cent, in the retail price of the books which had been obtained In return, for the extension. “It would appear that this protest has been made without a thorough knowledge of the true position,” said the Minister. “It will interest the public to know that the National Expenditure Commission made a full Inquiry and dealt with this question in its final report, and that, following upon the recommendation in its interim report, that there be no alteration in the primary school books for the next five years, it has now recommended an extension of the present arrangement, provided the publishers reduce the retail prices of the books immediately. A Costly Alternative. ’‘Shortly .after my appointment Minister of Education, I made exhaustive inquiries regarding this question, and I recently entered- into negotiations with the publishers, with the result that, as has been announced, an immediate reduction of 22} per cent on the present retail prices of books has been secured in return for an extension of the contract. This reduction means a saving of approximately £7500 in one year’s purchases. “The alternative to this was the preparation of manuscripts at a considerably heavy cost and the calling of tenders for an entirely fresh set of books. While it is conceded that if times were normal It would be desirable to hold the copyright of the books, the Government feels the time is inopportune to compel the parents of every child in our schools to purchase new books. It has to be remembered that an immediate reduction in the retail, prices is made available to the public for the remaining period of the original contract, and this, taken in conjunction with what would have amounted to a compulsory purchase of new books, will mean a saving to the parents throughout the Dominion of approximately £40,000. “A point worthy of mention is that the quality of the books is not being interfered with. At the end of last year a special committee of the Auckland Primary Schools’ Association brought down a report upon this question, and it was then urged that the Government should own the manuscripts and thus effect a reduction of 25 per cent, in the present prices of the books. It was suggested also that the time had come when the present publishers should be asked to supply books during the balance of their contract at a reduced cost to the parents who, it was said, were feeling the burden of the expenses to which they were put. Parents’ Interests Guarded. “The special committee made mention of the fact that 5 per cent, could be provided for the cost of manuscripts. Seeing the Government has brought about an immediate reduction of 22} per cent, in the retail prices of the books without incurring a heavy outlay in the preparation of manuscripts and without forcing the parents to incur an expenditure amounting in the aggregate to some £40,000, it Is difficult to understand the criticism which has been made. It has been said that the action taken was altogether too precipitate and quite uncalled for, and that the interests of th* parents have been sacrificed. “To each of these charges I say unhesitatingly that all my efforts have been in the direction of helping the parents of the Dominion during a very trying period. The decision of the Government was reached only after the most careful consideration of the whole position, and with all due respect to those who have offered any criticism, I make bold to say that the new arrangement is one that will be welcomed by the great majority of parents, particularly in view of the difficult times through which we are passing.” The contract for the supply of textbooks to schools was to expire at the end of 1933. The contracting firm owns the copyright of the books.