Table of Content Section1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9 Appendix1|2|3|4|5|6|7 Notes|Executive Summary|Download(PDF format, 798KB) SECTION SEVEN - TEXTBOOK SELECTION 7.1        During thecourse of the study, there were two market practices regarding textbookselection that in the Councils' view affected the extent of competition in therelevant markets. These were: £»thedisclosure of textbook prices during textbook selection process; and £» the revision oftextbooks. Disclosure of pricing information 7.2       In the textbook selection process, all schools surveyed by the Council respondedthat it was the subject teachers who were mainly, if not solely, responsible forthe choice of textbooks. As observed from their rating of discriminating factors(Table 5), the schools put special emphasis on the textbook contents - theiroverall quality and their suitability for students. Table 5 Rating of Discriminating Factors in Textbook Selection Discriminating Factors Primary Schools Secondary Schools Textbook Contents 3.00 2.96 Suitability for students 2.81 2.90 Content Quality 2.70 2.55 Availability of Teaching Aids 2.08 1.86 Printing Quality 1.51 1.22 Textbook Weight 1.35 1.02 Textbook Price 1.19 1.35 Note: -    Rating "3" - very important; Rating "2" - important; -    Rating "1" - average important; Rating "0" - not important. Source: Information obtained from the Council's previous surveys of 50 primary schools and 58 secondary schools. 7.3       One of the major reasons quoted for the low rating of price as a factor inselecting a textbook, was that textbook prices were mostly unavailable at thetime of textbook selection. However, this would not apply for textbooks that hadnot been revised since the last edition. In the Council's survey, nearly allschool respondents stated they would like to have list prices for reference intextbook selection. The Council’s study showed that there was a margin ofdifference in textbook prices. In particular, the variation of prices wassomewhat more pronounced in secondary schools. Tables listing primary andsecondary textbook prices are set out in Appendix6. 7..4       The unavailability of textbook prices at the time of textbook selection tends todistort the selection process. Based on the principle of promoting faircompetition, publishers should provide price information as one of the criteriafor consideration in the selection process. While not understating theimportance of textbook contents in the textbook selection process, schoolsshould be responsive to the fact that textbook prices may impose a financialburden on parents [25].Moreover, schools are also consumers and hence it is important for them thatpublishers make price information available at the time of choice. Somepublishers claimed that there would be difficulties in submitting a price listfor new editions as they may not know the actual circulation volume of atextbook which could affect unit price. The Council can understand that printingvolumes would impact on the cost of textbooks, and therefore the pricesavailable to consumers. Nevertheless, some indication of price (such as anindicative price range) would seem to be a prerequisite for any textbookselection process. Pricing pressure in the selection process 7.5       Notwithstanding the difficulties schools may have in obtaining pricinginformation, there is an inherent problem in the selection process due to thelack of pressure on the party selecting the textbook to closely consider price.The current system of textbook selection, and distribution is based on thenotion of a competitive marketplace. A competitive marketplace assumes thatinformed buyers make decisions on sources of supply taking into account thethree dimensions of price, product range, and product quality. 7.6       Under the current selection system the expected condition of a buyer being underpressure to choose the lowest price (all other factors being satisfied) islacking. Finding the means to place pressure on schools to make textbookpurchases at the lowest price, will redress this anomaly. The Council proposesone option, i.e. requiring schools to construct textbook loan libraries, as onemeans of introducing pricing pressure into the textbook selection process,thereby resolving the required circumstances for a market to function asefficiently as possible. Details of this proposal are outlined in SectionNine. Textbook revisions 7.7       In addition to revisions that might be undertaken by ED (as noted earlier inthis paper) textbook contents are also revised by publishers, without beingprompted by curriculum changes. This would have a direct effect on students whorequire textbooks for prolonged periods of time which overlap with revisions.The changes would make existing versions redundant, and necessitate a newpurchase. 7.8       A high incidence of changes to text can also have an effect on the developmentof second-hand textbook market, because older versions would become redundantand lose their utility. The absence of such a market, or one that is of limitedsize, would, it follows, be advantageous to publishers. It cannot be ignoredthat by simply revising the contents of a textbook, publishers could produce anew version with no second-hand substitute, and thereby limit the share of salesthat would be lost to the second-hand market. 7.9       The Council conducted a survey in October 2000 on nine revised textbookscomparing the new editions against their old editions. In the survey, theassessment criteria was based on opinions from school principals, parents andteachers. The major findings were: £» On necessityof revision, of the nine revised textbooks, only three were assessedconclusively as “necessary to revise". Of the remainder, five textbookswere assessed as "quite necessary" and one as "should be treatedas reprint with minor amendments". Illustration: “Reprint with MinorAmendments?¡@ 7.1       The survey also found that in the majority of cases, the revised editionscontained more pages and their prices were increased accordingly. The Councilconsiders use of old edition textbooks with only minor revision would reduceparent burden. 7.2       Responses from schools, when this issue was raised, suggested their commondesire for publishers to produce addenda when making minor revisions incontents, to spare the need for replacement purchases. In fact, this is also acriteria set by ED that textbooks should be bound in loose-leaves.