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Frances Pinter The financing of textbooks is a continual issue raised within rich and poor countries alike. The question of who pays and how much is primarily a political question. Models that may work for one country might be abhorrent to another even though their financial circumstances may be similar. Cultural values about the role of the book in families, schools and societies all play a part in a country’s decision on how to finance textbooks. Nevertheless, despite these differences, in the end someone has to pay for the books. The government may choose to finance textbooks through the central budget or it may borrow funds from agencies such as the World Bank (and then devise a plan for repayment of the loan). Responsibility for the provision of textbooks may be delegated to local authorities who may receive funds from the central government, or through local taxes. In some countries parents may be obliged to purchase textbooks which may or may not be subsidised through provision of grants to producers or discounts or vouchers provided directly (and selectively) to needy parents. Whichever way the pie is cut, the books have to be paid for and the financing has to be found. Recently a number of organizations, influenced primarily by World Bank thinking have looked to find ways of making the cake last longer. A simple idea has evolved that is devilishly difficult to implement but which when it works, as readers will see below, can substantially reduce the financial burden of textbooks both on the state and on the parents. This is, of course, particularly important in poorer countries, but the model can be of interest to others too, as spin-off effects such as greater parental involvement in commitment to the supply of learning materials to children has a beneficial influence on society as a whole. Textbook rental schemes are simple in concept. An initial pool of money is made available to produce enough books to cover the needs of a defined number of pupils in any given number of subjects. These books are held by the schools and rented out to the parents of the children concerned. The books are returned at the end of the year and rented out again the next year. This process continues for an average of four years by which time the rental charges levied should be more than the original cost of the book and enough to purchase a replacement book (which may have different contents entirely due to changes in the syllabus). In this way a ‘revolving fund’ is established. In theory no more funds need to be introduced from the outside and the project becomes ‘self-sustaining’. The idea has many attractions, but conversely, much of what is considered appealing by some is undesirable by others. There is no doubt from the papers in this volume that devolution of responsibility is crucial for the scheme’s success. This in turn means that power must be relinquished from the top while at the same time the financial commitment to start the scheme needs to be a centrally determined and honored. Towards the end of 1999 a conference was held in Budapest that brought together representatives from five countries that have textbook rental schemes up and running (Armenia, Barbados, The Gambia, Lesotho and Moldova), one that had just begun a pre-pilot study (Georgia) and one that was considering embarking on an experimental scheme (Macedonia). Together with consultants that had advised the World Bank and the countries concerned, participants shared experiences in great detail. It would be fair to say that all were stunned by how useful this exchange turned out to be despite the differences between the countries. The Center for Publishing Development of the Open Society Institute initiated this meeting and is grateful to the World Bank (and particularly James Socknat, Mary Canning and Harry Patrinos) for their support and participation. This collection of edited papers has been prepared as a result of the conference and this introduction has been specially written after the event for this publication. Also an additional paper by Chris Conolly-Smith specifically for transition countries has been added. Many of the papers include appendices that provided a whole range of tools that will be of interest to anyone contemplating a textbook rental scheme, ranging from samples of forms and reports to illustrations of macroeconomic modelling.
The presenters of the
country papers were all asked to follow a format which was prepared
by Philip Cohen, an independent textbook consultant to the World Bank
and the Open Society Institute who was charged with the task of organizing
the conference and ensuring the quality (which was achieved masterfully).
Five issue headings (Management, Finance, Equity, Book and History of
the Scheme) provided the framework followed by the country reports.
In addition, the Role of the Book Trade emerged as an issue arising
at regular intervals during discussions. The format of this introduction
is to follow these six headings and summarise the main points, not country
by country (for this the reader will have to consult the papers) but
as major issue areas of concern that need addressing by any country
that is even thinking of embarking on a rental scheme. MANAGEMENT – The Structure Since all the five models described here were originally financed by the World Bank there are certain similarities that are dictated by the conditions of the loans. Nonetheless there are significant variations as well. The general management structure can be defined as follows. The Ministry of Education along with the sponsoring agency (in the cases illustrated here it is the World Bank) determines the office within the Ministry that takes on responsibility for the project. The Project Implementation Unit (which is often covering a broader brief, usually the whole of an education reform loan project) along with Ministry officials design the management structure. The general consensus was that the greater the involvement of the schools the better. ‘Ownership’ of the project at the local level was essential and schools with high levels of parental involvement were even more likely to be successful in managing the scheme. At the same time continual government commitment, even and especially, after the initial stages were completed was deemed essential. Broadening the range of participants was also considered important. For example, the booksellers of a country might take on a more active role and could, in theory, introduce more efficiency if competitive tendering were introduced for a wider range of functions beyond simple fulfilment. The papers, along with the samples of forms for record keeping, demonstrate the need for a very detailed and transparent paper trail. Readers will be able to see how well documents are tailored to the familiar administrative practices of each country. It is important not to be too radical when asking school officials to donate extra work time, as is often called upon by the new rental schemes. Indeed a major theme of discussion was whether or not teachers and local school officials should be paid extra for managing the scheme. Answers to this issue varied from country to country.
Who pays for hidden
administrative costs was also highlighted. After careful analysis it
became clear that everyone in the chain of activity was covering extra
costs which were not provided for in the original project budget. Therefore
the real cost of the schemes are considerably higher than apparent on
paper. Ministries, local district officials, school administrators and
teachers all contributed their time which had not been factored into
any assessment of actual costs. Some participants felt this was right
and proper as assisting in the provision of textbooks should be a part
of everyone’s job description. Others felt it was high time to include
these costs and pay for them accordingly. FINANCE As mentioned above most of the projects so far were originally financed by World Bank loans, usually as a component part of an Education Loan. Where top-up expenditure was required this came from the national budget. However, a number of the projects are too young still to assess the need for top-up funding. The most important factor determining whether or not the fund will be large enough to cover replacement copies at the end of the rental cycle is the management of the funds. The ability to create a formula that survives the test of time and the ability to stick to the predetermined formula is crucial. To this end one has to ask, are the funds being responsibly held? If in local currencies are there ways of insuring against devaluation, inflation and other unforeseen events that whittle away at the value of the funds? What is important for one country need not be so significant for another. Moldova suffered badly as a result of the Russian rouble crisis in August 1998. Paper imports, paid for in hard currency, increased dramatically in cost making it inevitable that the fund would fall far short of its target. The Gambia, on the other hand, despite its dependency on book imports from Britain has had a stable currency for years and does not expect any changes in the future. Other factors effecting the size of the revolving fund are unanticipated administrative costs that might, if not covered by other sources be paid for from the fund. And finally is any money being siphoned off illegally? Is the partner bank an honorable one and are the subaccounts (clearly an essential feature of any scheme) being carefully accounted for? A textbook rental scheme has to concern itself with all aspects of money management, from the details of how school administrators collect sums from the parents and transfer cash safely into a bank to major questions of investment. If allowed by the government to hold foreign currency should it do so? What kind of an account should the central funds be held in so as to maximize interest received while minimizing any risk of losing the money? The level of rental fees varied from country to country with Barbados charging 50% of the purchase price to as little as 25% being charged elsewhere. These differences reflected differing approaches on how the countries chose to subsidize the poor. In the case of Barbados the rental fees covered costs for families that were unable to pay anything at all while in other countries such subsidies came from outside sources. Each country developed their own set of rules governing the conditions under which pupils rented the books and how they were to be accounted for. All of the countries represented complained of indifference of the central government authorities concerning the provision of textbooks. However, as many studies have shown this is not restricted to these countries alone. It is, nonetheless, imperative that for the scheme to succeed the government throws its weight behind the project. While not covered extensively in the papers, the discussions did touch on the issue of how such a scheme relates to the local book industry. In countries that have had large scale textbook projects (with or without a rental scheme component) the impact on the growth of the publishing industry has been considerable. Such projects serve to increase competition, improve quality, expand choice and reduce prices. But none of this happens automatically or without transition pains. One issue looked at in some depth was how differential pricing of books (in and out of the scheme) can impact negatively on local distribution. Participants also felt the scheme triggered increased investment in publishing in general which was to the benefit of everyone.
Finally the question
was raised whether it was conceivable that a state might wish to finance
a textbook rental scheme through its own revenues and not through a
loan from an outside agency. While it was generally thought this would
be unlikely, no real obstacle could be identified. It was a question
of whether the non-financial benefits (greater participation, higher
regard for books, releasing funds for other good causes) would be considered
worth the effort and allocation of funds required to implement such
a scheme. EQUITY Discussions on equity issues were broad ranging, from comments that rental schemes were actually in contradiction to the UNESCO declaration on access to free education, to pragmatic positions which simply acknowledged the shortage of funding and the need to spread the burden of costs. Several models of providing a safety net for poorer families are described in the papers. The divisions between urban and rural are also covered, One scheme, not yet used anywhere, but now being considered is the provision of vouchers for those in greatest need. Other issues under equity actually straddled over a number of the main subject headings. Questions arising here included, who owned the books, whether choice of titles was an inherent goal of the program or whether was it wishful thinking to envisage a world where all economies would not only be able to provide one book per subject per child but also finance the availability of choice of titles at inevitably higher unit costs.
Provision of books for
minorities is of ever increasing importance as freedom to learn in one’s
own language and cultural context is of increasing importance in many
countries. The extent to which textbook rental schemes can incorporate
this diversity is also covered in the papers. THE BOOK The physical properties of the book itself were hotly debated. The trade-offs between hardback binding which would ensure a longer life and paperback binding which requires lower initial investments were discussed. While four years was generally accepted as the average lifespan of a book, shorter and longer lives were not unknown. Different compensation arrangements for lost or damaged books have been developed. There was general agreement that use of a book over two years of syllabi was on the whole unworkable and while the ideal was one book per pupil there were some subjects where sharing was a viable option. Workbooks, of course, would have to be excluded from the scheme as they tend to not to be reusable. An area that merited further exploration was the sharing of titles across national boundaries. Countries with small enclaves of people speaking minority languages might benefit from introducing some titles (and even importing finished copies) from countries printing larger quantities of the books in question. While clearly attractive from a financial point of view it was recognized that the introduction of foreign books would not necessarily be appropriate in all instances on pedagogic grounds.
The rate of introduction
of titles into the scheme was also handled differently amongst the five
countries. In some instances large groups of titles covering all books
in a number of grades were introduced all at once, while other countries
opted for a more gradual introduction of the scheme, phasing in titles
over a number of years. All agreed that careful piloting was imperative.
Public relations, explaining to parents and the public at large why
the scheme was beneficial led to greater acceptance and ultimately greater
care being taken of the books themselves. HISTORIES OF THE SCHEMES Each country is a fascinating case study with the oldest scheme having been established in 1975 and the newest in 1999. Each country had different political and financial reasons for establishing the scheme, with different protagonists advocating the benefits and pushing to achieve agreement to go ahead. All countries were assisted by outside consultants who prepared needs assessments and comprehensive surveys of the country’s textbook production and provision capacities before designing the project.
Common problems with
all the schemes centered around fine tuning the structure to something
that was implementable within the political environment. Then the maintenance
of government commitment in the long term despite changes in governments
took over as a feature that required continual attention by the key
protagonists. THE ROLE OF THE BOOK TRADE The backbone that is essential to the functioning of most rental schemes is a book trade that can cope with the demands made upon it. This varies from The Gambia, for example, where participation is limited to distribution only as books are sourced from UK firms who manufacture in Hong Kong to Armenia where most of the books are written and produced locally within an industry that is in transition from state to private ownership. Nonetheless, one common theme that emerged was the importance of achieving a healthy relationship with publishers and the rest of the book trade. Commercial considerations simply could not be ignored by the administrators of rental schemes. Copyright laws needed to be adhered to and fair and open tendering procedures were deemed essential towards ensuring cooperation amongst all participants. Publishers needed to be brought into the process with timely information provided on changes in syllabi. While initial reactions towards the scheme from publishers may be cautious as they calculate a drop in reprints each year, most have come to appreciate the regularity of orders created by the scheme and the independence from dependency on a single source of finance (the Ministry) as the scheme becomes self-sufficient.
Different environments
produced differing answers to questions such as how the availability
of books on the market (in addition to the scheme) impacts on rentals,
how fluctuations in student numbers from year to year can be accommodated
and how to react to changing policies coming from frequently changing
governments. All had favorable experiences when the scheme was designed
in such a way as to demonopolize the provision of textbooks. CONCLUSION The jury is still out and deliberating as to whether or not textbook rental schemes are the answer to reducing the cost of textbook provision while ensuring equity of access to books for pupils, fair competition in the trade, improved standards of texts and the introduction and maintenance of best practices and transparency in the management of rental schemes.
This volume is an interim contribution to the debate by assembling real experiences from which the reader can judge for him or herself whether or not this is a suitable route down which to travel.
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