Parents become victims of school textbook competition

Indra Harsaputra, The Jakarta Post/Surabaya

Sweat gushes over Nanang's face. Nanang, an employee with a book distribution company in Surabaya, was exhausted after a day of selling textbooks to elementary schools in the city. It was a new school term and he expected to sell as many books as he could.

He had been optimistic that he would be able to sell many more books because those he was selling had been recommended by the National Education Standards Agency (BSNP), but reality was quite different. He only sold a few books.

"Other distributors have slashed book prices. Teachers, who decide which books to be used by their students, choose to pick cheaper books, although those are not recommended by the government," said Nanang.

Nanang claimed that the books not recommended by the BSNP were 10 percent to 20 percent cheaper compared to books recommended by the standards agency. That does not include the discount normally given by the book distributors. Normally, the book distributors, whose books are not recommended by the BSNP give a 40 percent to 50 percent discount, while distributors whose books are recommended by the standards agency only give 10 percent discounts. "The discount is normally the cost for giving commissions to school teachers or the principals," he said.

In order to compete with other distributors, especially those whose books are not recommended by the BSNP, Nanang offered the schools a deal to pay in installments. "If the schools buy books in a certain amount, they can pay by credit between two and six months," said Nanang.

Mursyid, an employee at a book distributor whose books are not recommended by the BSNP, acknowledged that the competition was tough. As books from his company were not recommended by the government, he worked harder to work out closer relationships with teachers, school principals and officials with the local education office. And, so far, his approach has worked well, he said.

Out there, parents, who had become the victims of the business competition, complained about school policies that obliged students to buy books from schools.

Anas, a parent of an elementary school student, complained that she had been compelled to buy the books. "I am afraid if I don't buy the books, then my children will not be admitted in the school," said Anas. A similar complaint was shared by other parents in the city.

The schools, especially the state schools, have normally imposed registration fees amounting to Rp 500,000, on top of the fee for books and school uniforms amounting to Rp 500,000.

As the situation grows worse for parents and the students, the Minister of National Education, Bambang Sudibyo, has warned that the department would fire administrators and teachers who imposed exorbitant school fees and required students to buy books thatwere not recommended by the government. "People have to be proactive about reporting the recalcitrant schools and if the reports are true, we will discipline them," claimed Bambang during a function in Surabaya on Thursday.