State printer ends monopoly on school text books

JAKARTA (JP): Perum Balai Pustaka, the government-owned publishing and printing agency, is ending its monopoly in the printing and distribution of text books.

Balai Pustaka Director Suwardi told reporters yesterday that the move was taken to help end the acute shortage of text books, in recognition of the fact that his company can only supply 25 percent of the total need.

Besides its limited capacity -- Balai Pustaka can only print 200,000 volumes for every title -- the government agency also has problems in distributing the books to the more remote areas.

The step is seen as necessary to secure the success of the new nine-year compulsory education scheme beginning in July, covering six years of primary school and three years of intermediate school.

Balai Pustaka will involve producers on the provincial level by licensing them to produce the government texts, and will receive a 15 percent commission for every book printed and sold.

The authors get five percent in royalty payment.

He said the government will be looking for more than one printing house in each province for more effective distribution. Applications have already started to come in but the government has not heard from printers in South Sumatra, West Sumatra, East Kalimantan, South Kalimantan or Central Sulawesi.

To begin with, some 41 titles used by elementary and intermediate schools are now being offered to private printers.

The government agency will also fix the prices of all the books, Suwardi said. "The books will also carry the name and symbol of the Ministry of Education and Culture," he added.

The prices are controlled by the government to keep them affordable for students, he said.

He added that all school textbooks will be printed using papers supplied by PT Aspex, a state-owned paper producer, rather than the HVS 60 paper, whose price has risen by 65 percent in the last six months.

Balai Pustaka has a monopoly in publishing all the main textbooks used at primary and intermediate schools because they are written by commission of the government.

Private publishing houses however have provided many of the supplementary books used at schools.

Balai Pustaka said there will be new books introduced this year to conform with the new school curriculums. The agency has prepared 18 titles to begin with, with more to come. (01)