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Rental schemes were first discussed by donor agencies about twenty years ago. The first project proposed at that time was rejected. Since then many have been designed and a smaller number have actually been implemented. Nearly all of them are for compulsory education grades, mainly primary and a few secondary schools. They are usually for compulsory textbooks approved by the Ministry of Education and rented to the pupils for their sole use or perhaps shared use over one year, or two years on rare occasions. At the end of that period, if they have looked after the textbook properly, they give the book back and that is the end of the cycle. In some schemes there is a penalty which has to be paid if the book is lost or damaged. In some cases the rental fee will be payable over one term or perhaps in three instalments. Schemes operate at different levels. Some are centralised at the national level, others focus at the regional level, others on school levels. The trend, perhaps as confidence in the way things operate is that there is de-centralisation of the scheme, more local ownership at school level. In financial terms there are two main different types of rental scheme. Firstly, where the money is collected from the children and is placed into a bank account and where it remains for more than one year. That money can then be reused to purchase more textbooks after three or four years once enough money has been collected to pay for those replacement books. This is called an accumulating funds. The majority of schemes in the post-communist block are accumulating. The other type is a dispersing fund. This is where the money is collected in year one and is reused in the following year. Sustainability therefore in dispersing schemes becomes very difficult because you cannot possibly collect in one year enough money from rental fees to pay for replacements in the following year. Rental schemes provide new textbooks in most cases to parents at a lower cost than they could otherwise afford. Those same textbooks are used over several years so it is a good use of local resources. Paper is one of the big problems in the financial equation because it costs the same world-wide regardless of the state economy. Paper tends to be least expensive in those countries with the most buying power, namely the US, Germany, Japan because they have the priority on both delivery and price. In some countries where they have the lowest wage rate, the paper cost may be higher than in those countries where they can afford a higher level of textbook pricing. Rental schemes are popular with donor agencies because of sustainability. Textbooks can be provided at a reasonable cost to all school children which the teachers like because there is nothing worse than holding a class where only three children have textbooks and the others, however eager to learn, are embarrassed or cannot join in or both. So from an educational point of view rental schemes are enhancing education and bringing everyone up to a higher standard. It is also popular because it is similar to the schemes that existed pre 1989 when children received, free of charge, a book for one year and it was then given back to the school at the end of the year. Therefore it could be argued that the only difference is that parents are now paying a rental fee which is far cheaper than the cost of new textbooks. It is sustainable because at the end of a loan period you have more money to purchase new textbooks and therefore you have momentum. What alternatives are there? Most education textbook projects do involve a rental scheme of some sort. But the alternatives are obviously free textbooks where the government feels that they would like to commit children to education as a means of increasing the economic wealth of a country. This is very expensive but in smaller populations that may be affordable. However, book availability on the market can be unstable. In some countries a parent will buy the book when it is in stock in the local street market at one price, the next week another children will go with their parent and there will be no textbooks at all. Another child will go back with the second parent and they will pay a vastly inflated price. So you have the problems of different prices, and different availability all resulting in fewer educational benefits. In such scenarios distributors have a very strong control over the textbook supply process. In some countries there might be a strong second-hand market, where books flow from one family to the next depending on the number of children in the family, this does not guarantee supply but definitely produces books at a low cost. In some richer countries the schools will purchase back textbooks from the pupils in order to re-supply them the following year. So what prerequisites are necessary in order for the rental scheme to operate? The first one is that there has to be a stable, ideally newly established or long-term established, curriculum. If you have a scheme where the aim is simply to produce textbooks in ten seconds and where the Ministry or the next minister may wish to change the curriculum the next minute, any rental scheme will have a bad start because parents will rent the books and then in the second year new books will be required. The sustainability under such circumstances will not exist. You have to have a stable curriculum. Donor aid will take longer to produce benefits to the country and many donors and countries want immediate fixes in terms to solve a shortage now. The question then arises, are we trying to produce fast solutions or ideal solutions? The project design depends on the view taken by the government and the Ministries. Certainly the number of textbooks per grade whether, a textbook is used for two grades and retained for two years, is also relevant. The design of the curriculum and the number of textbooks required has to be carried out professionally and realistically in order for textbook rental scheme to work. Schemes need to be wary of being over-ambitious. Each country has to decide on what it can realistically afford rather than going for ideal solutions which it has seen on a study tour. The teaching approach is also vital. How is the textbook used in the class? Is it used in a didactic way? Is the same chapter taught each week by all the teachers in a country or does the teacher have the freedom to teach a subject which is then assessed on the basis of an examination rather than having to use a set book? All this effects choice on a number of issues such as the number of pages, the format and the cost. The specifications not just of the content, the colour etcetera, have to be realistic. The role of the workbook which is normally sold to the pupils for a one – off usage has to be considered early on. Discussions are often held as to whether workbooks should be free also. However this would mean horrific costs and is very difficult to sustain because they only have a one time usage. In some countries a book has entered the rental scheme while at the same time the editorial approach has been such that the child wrote the answer into the book which then makes it easier for the child in the second year but the book is not carrying out its true function. A very detailed design is essential to make any rental scheme truly workable with tight controls. There should be visible controls at school level and at ministry level and every other level. In most case rental schemes have been stimulated by donor aid which pays for the first set of textbooks. It is essential that money be held outside government because the money does not belong to a Ministry. It belongs ultimately to the schools and the parents. The most successful schemes are those where schools and Parent – Teacher Associations are taking ownership of smaller amounts and where funds are managed locally. Under IMF influence budgets for textbooks have often been decentralised to the school level. Thus rental schemes are helping the end-user and suppliers are rewarded based on how much benefit they provide to the end users. In many countries the teachers’ salaries and textbook budgets will not belong to the Ministries of Education, but rather to the local region. Every scheme is and should be individual. It is essential that people listen to the Ministry of Education and the regions in making those design comments. Rental schemes are different to most Ministry of Education roles. They are commercial so in a way it is like running an organisation in a state enterprise. It is totally different to devising curriculum and assessment criteria. Once operating a system where efficiency and value for money count and where the people therefore handling it have to be chosen on different criteria, though obviously with educational experts involved. The people who need to administer the scheme have to be chosen with those skills in mind. Most school authorities do not appear to trust government. This raises the question again, what is the role of central ministries in the design of such schemes. It is a partnership but when it comes to administration the schools quite often say that they would like to be more closely involved and take more ownership of it. The possibility of such involvement is often determined by the budgetary process. If rental scheme is to be sustainable, it has to generate enough money in order to pay for new textbooks in the future. Some of the issues that effect the financial basis is whether a single book, per subject per grade is being offered, or whether there is a choice. Choice tends to push up quality, but it also raises costs. In theory it should not do so under strict economic principles but it does because it takes time for competition to show the benefits on price. The affordable level issue tends to be confused with what the poor can afford rather than looking at whether special provision is made for the socially (economically) deprived. In some countries the level of socially deprived people is very high and governments fall into the trap of trying to produce an average rental fee rather than setting a fee and then looking at special provisions for those families. This can result in the average rental fee set being low and popular but unlikely to be sustainable. Textbook specifications is also a key issue. In the former Soviet Union, for example, authors and printers were paid on the basis of number of words and the more you wrote the more you earned. This would increase the number of pages and hence cost. A key element in the design is how books are stored. The motivation of the pupil to look after the textbook is whether a fee is charged to children if they lose the book or damaged it. Most estimates of levels of wastage are far too low. With regard to any special provision on rental fees for the socially deprived there is a growing emergence, often with separate donor aid, of help for specific regions where special circumstances prevail (e.g. an earthquake or war). These schemes are encouraging the emergence of a realistic rental fee with special provision for socially deprived and/or very difficult economic areas which need special help. The question there is that donors need to work closer and closer together. The above not withstanding most ministries seem to want an average rental fee rather than looking at special provisions for special areas. Obviously a ministry will want to be popular with whatever rental fee they set and some countries still wish to offer free textbooks as a concept even though they are being reused over four years. The proportion of children that actually pay for textbooks and are actually able to afford them is the key variable effecting sustainability. Any rental fee has to be based not on today’s costs but on the future replacement cost. Imagine the following scenario where you are reprinting in four year’s time, inflation may have been too optimistically forecasted, the currency may have changed, the paper price in particular may have therefore dramatically changed, and printers take the view that short runs are much more expensive. The level of competition may not be as high as one would like and therefore the cost of replacement is higher than it should be. Fraud sadly often takes place and therefore not all the money collected is there for reprinting. Also affecting the fee level is the level of ambition of the Ministry of Education in setting a larger number of textbooks than is perhaps realistic in terms of affordability. There might be no incentive at all on the part of ministries to purchase centrally because there is no benefit to them whatsoever. So what the central purchasing agent is buying are books including all the start up costs associated with the first edition. There are no risks in my opinion attached to the publisher. A textbook is very profitable to all those producing it, especially on the reprints. Publishers understand manufacturing but less so distribution. Nonetheless the responsibility for physical distribution should rest with the publisher. The contract will stipulate that, with the help of the donor, the publisher will find the author. The book will be approved by the Ministry, the publisher will edit, design, print and deliver it to the schools or to a region. In most publishing there are a variety of ways of distributing books with a variety of economic gains. Greater decentralisation in the future seems to be the most promising route ahead. Donor support typically supplies the first printings and for an additional amount of stock. It is debatable as to whether reprints should be made each year. If you have buffer stock at the start you protect against the danger that you may run out of stock if the population changes. The country will pay back the donor loan at a totally separate lead time i.e. ten years onwards into the future. It is important to avoid confusion between the cycle of the rental scheme where you replace after four years and with the repayment through the Ministry of Finance of the donor aid. Control is absolutely vital to the design of the rental scheme. There have to be approval stages written into any scheme, many of them would be there for any type of publishing process but the key element is payment by results which is sometimes new to the suppliers who are accustomed to having payments before results and then asking for more later. Certainly rental schemes have helped develop the notion of entreprenialship in publishing for the good of the whole industry, not just for textbooks. But it does mean that there have to be very lengthy delivery procedures and checks in order that the books arrive at the right place and the right time. It is an attitude of mind where the school is the ultimate customer and not the Ministry and that you have success in a rental scheme if you deliver the right books in the right format to the right school. With regard to rental fees, there is likely to be a centralised fund where all the money goes into one account and it will be administered by the Ministry of Education. The draw back of this is that it. That provides little incentive for the school or the regions to take ownership of the scheme. Some countries have regional accounts which are simpler in administration, though where pupils move from one school or another more paperwork is required. Another problem that may arise is that the richest schools are often those where the population is declining. If a school has 100 children and the next year it has 80 it is much easier to become sustainable because last year they collected money for 100 children. If you are in an area where people are moving into and have less money other distortions occur. Then there are school level accounts perhaps managed centrally where the school can benefit from its good works, can spend money saved by looking after the books, by getting the children to protect the books, by spending the difference on books for the library perhaps. The ownership of the collections is a key issue. It should belong to the Ministry of Education, especially if that budget no longer exists within the Ministry. Money should be held in separate bank accounts visible and audited outside of the Ministry of Education. The problem is one of human nature that if in a country with little money there is a gold mine sitting in the middle it becomes highly attractive and the larger the account and the more sustainable the account, the more exciting that fund becomes for the government. An argument can be made that the money should be put to better use than simply earning bank interest. But this leads to risky activities that threaten the fund itself. So sustainability, the ability to create long term benefits out of the scheme after donor aid and supervision is gone is to charge realistic fee levels. Ministers tend to think short term and four years is a long time. Wastage levels need to be examined in great detail. Ongoing donor supervision from outside help, long term planning, which is crucial. In summary the key issue is creating local ownership and not just ministry level interest. If parents and teacher and the community are committed to the project then they will pull it along rather than pushing from the top. certainly that has to be done within the family culture of that country. Only then can one address the issues of how to keep reprints competitive and how to avoid fraud and how to work with the Ministry of Education in terms of the curriculum, content and use of textbooks.
Textbook
Financing Systems in Transition Countries Key Factors in devising the appropriate system include:
Textbooks were written by approved writers who were members of the Society of Authors. Payments were made according to fixed scales usually based on length. Authors therefore wrote over-length textbooks, which often talked over the heads of the pupils, because many authors were top academics rather than good teachers of the same grade. Design was not appropriate to the needs of the pupil. Too much information was provided to the pupil. The model also dictated what had to be taught in each lesson rather than judging on the basis of examination success. Failure to declare a clear policy by many governments on this vital aspect has delayed the progress of pupil-friendly textbooks. Printing started 10 months ahead of the school year to meet the demands of the printing industry. This meant that editors could introduce content only a year old into textbooks. A typical model was of 11 school grades starting at 6 or 7 years of age. In secondary grades students had a choice of subjects including technical subjects. Different schools specialised in different languages. Textbooks were loaned to pupils free of charge for their exclusive use during that grade. Textbooks were collected at the end of the year, and re-issued to other pupils in the following school year. Every 3 - 4 years, the Ministry of Education would print 150% of the pupil numbers in each grade to allow for damage and loss over the planned 3 - 4 years of usage. A central school in each area would store the excess textbooks for future years. A side effect of this policy was that textbooks became more “out-of-date” in terms of content over the 4 years’ life. Textbooks were often
given to pupils in grade 1 (and sometimes grade 2) in order to motivate
them when first entering school. Such textbooks often carried more colour
for the same reason. There was no choice of textbooks but textbooks
were produced for different specialisms e.g. languages, and for secondary
schools where students were streamed into academic or technical routes.
These technical subjects were vocation based and the print runs were
often below 1,000 copies printed for a 5-year life. Post Soviet models In mast transition countries the Ministry of Education has appeared to encourage competition while keeping a tight control over approved authors. Many private publishers have been funded by “new” money. This has meant that government or aid money has not provided to schools and their pupils the “new” textbooks that they were seeking. In many countries the state textbook publisher has fallen from favour as being part of the past, in others, perhaps the minority, the state publisher has remained close to the Ministry of Education and remained in favour e.g. Kazakhstan, Georgia. It is a question of politics and finance. Many aid projects have demanded competition in order to improve costs and content. Many new textbooks are different only in format or design therefore often using the same authors. Many textbooks have employed designs and materials more appropriate to books for the general market. Many progressive schools have felt let down, while other schools have feared that the selection by their school of a more progressive textbook might place their pupils at a disadvantage in final examinations. Where governments have encouraged private publishers, those same publishers have experienced financial difficulties because printers demanded up-front payments 9 months ahead of delivery. Printers gave varying levels of co-operation to individual publishers. In some cases the Ministry of Education bought a textbook printer under its control (previously under the Ministry of Culture or the Ministry of Industry). The guaranteed market
for approved textbooks attracts both publishers and "entrepreneurs”
eager to capitalise on the high returns. In practice despite these attractions
few if any publishers have been prepared to amortised first-edition
costs over potential reprints. This has resulted in higher unit costs
where a ministry has encouraged competition. Indeed most publishers
insist on higher prices for reprints (printing and paper costs represent
a high percentage of total costs and printers have often been unwilling
to change their pricing methods from the Soviet model) which gave price
benefits for volume, and under which 4-colour printing cost 4x the cost
of single colour printing. Interim Solutions In many countries, schools
have survived by using a variety of old textbooks over different editions
supplemented often by cheap Russian imports. This situation has been
aggravated by the need for textbooks in different languages for
minorities. The "home" country often supports Diaspora. The impact of
this is that teaching standards fall as teachers work under difficult
conditions where pupils have different textbooks or different editions
or only partial supply. The budgetary burdens have in these cases fallen
on parents. The cost per child for textbooks will depend on the number
of children in the family assuming that textbooks remain in use unchanged.
Poorer parents cannot afford to pay for textbooks. Typical Foreign Aid Projects Typical objectives of such projects include
In particular
1. Ministry of Education (MoE) responsibilities – transfer of budget responsibility to regions Under the Soviet model, MoE was responsible for the budgets for both schools, special needs schools and textbooks, and for all grades including university grades. Since 1989 the following changes have been predominant
2. Regional responsibility but parents responsible for purchasing textbooks As 1 above MoE has no budget responsibility for textbooks. Poor regions and government decide that they cannot afford a textbook budget. Two options emerge: 2.1 Parents have to purchase textbooks. Under this option parents have to buy from bookshops or street markets. Prices will vary. Not all pupils will have textbooks and pupils will have different editions. 2.2 Regions and schools arrange a loan system for pupils. Most aid projects involve
a form of textbook rental scheme. Therefore this forms the central focus
of the report. Textbook Rental Schemes In the Soviet period pupils received a textbook under a free rental scheme. They had a duty to take good care of the textbooks so that future children could share equal advantages from using the textbooks. Schools had to complete forms at the end of each school year showing their textbook inventory by condition. At the start of the school year each school has to submit a list of pupil numbers by grade. From these two documents MoE would calculate print runs for the following school year. Printing would start 10 months ahead of the school year. In order to secure full textbook supplies schools would inflate their documentation. Schools like the system because all children received a textbook, which made teaching easier, and motivated the pupils. In addition they would store the extra textbooks in a central school for future years. As a result, they felt confident that there would be adequate textbook supplies in the following year. The advantages of the rental scheme post 1989 are as follows:
Disadvantages of rental schemes include the following:
MoE will set a rental fee nationally either
The fee will apply to all schools throughout the county and schools cannot vary the fee. Richer parents can however provide extra moneys for poor children. Special budgets usually exist at regional level for needy children e.g. for meals, textbooks. Usually the librarian will be the “accountant” within each school, although responsibility often falls on the class teacher. Larger schools will have a school accountant.
Under this method the MoE or more usually, a legally-separate body, will be responsible for textbook ordering, distribution, and rental fee collections.
Regions will take an assessment of local textbook needs and place orders for textbooks. In subsequent years, efficient regions where pupils are motivated to take good care of textbooks e.g. by special covers, will achieve savings as they can order fewer textbooks. The same applies to regions where the population is falling. Conflicts may exist between textbook provision, help for needy children and other local projects. It is thus difficult to ensure equal treatment in all regions.
This is perhaps the
ideal but most difficult scheme. Schools and parents have a vested interest
in securing economic textbook supply for their children. Problems with rental schemes To an emerging economy a year is a long time, and 4 years a lifetime. To lock up moneys for up to 4 years is “unproductive” in that it only earns interest rather than being put to use (opportunity cost). In transition countries,
there have been a number of scams whereby citizens have been encouraged
to “invest” in a venture for a longer period for a high return. In some
cases the money has disappeared e.g. the Albania scam which caused national
unrest. There is simply not the same regulation to enforce rules and
laws. Revolving Funds Revolving Funds are not a method of financing textbooks. They are only a mechanism, which may work under several of the systems discussed earlier. The key aims of such a fund are to:
Revolving and similar funds give confidence to donor agencies that moneys will be used for the purpose intended under independent control. A typical aid-funded rental scheme (100% donor funding)
The aim is to accumulate sufficient funds to pay for subsequent reprints so textbooks are self-financing from the MoE’s point of view. The fee must be affordable to nearly all pupils.
Analysis
Thus 168 in local currency is collected to pay 168 in local currency in year 4 such the system is self-financing. In practice the system is more complex due to inflation, needy children, and the desire by governments to borrow as little as possible and to charge low rental fees. In theory a Fund needs only to hold enough money for the following year’s textbooks but not in practice. Schemes can be for periods of less than 4 years rental. Other areas for investigation The notes so far focus on compulsory primary education. Secondary education tends to receive less attention as it is often not compulsory and benefits fewer pupils.
Every supplier is marking up a margin on his or her own costs. Inflation thus tends to benefit certain parties e.g. authors. Under the Soviet model suppliers would usually add 20% to their costs. Printers mark-up paper costs and further mark-up their total costs. Most Western printers would mark-up by say 10% with very little on paper. Paper prices are controlled and often higher than in Western Europe due to lack of competition, import duties, freight costs. The high mark-ups result from the past but there is no reason for such high mark-ups except for the lack of true competition. When calculated in terms of return on capital, textbooks are very rewarding financially for publishers. Except for the pre-press stages, the cashflow cycle is short.
In many countries a fixed royalty is paid based on the selling price, regardless of the print run. Textbooks print runs are very high and there is often no real selling price. A net receipt basis or fee would be more appropriate from the financial point of view (authors might disagree!). Where MoE purchases the textbooks, it will often pay the same price as in bookshops.
Both teachers and pupils appreciate these. To publishers they represent an opportunity to enter the market after they have failed to sell approved compulsory textbooks into MoE. In many countries MoE will still approve these and will issue a list of such books to all schools. Such books can be bought via bookshops and parents will obviously favour such books for their children. This area of publishing
does not require aid funding except as part of a library project. Printing and paper prices Paper and printing represent
a high proportion of aid project budgets. However it is rare for donors
to intervene in the negotiation and supply of paper and printing except
in obtaining free papers from other donor countries. Most donors will
insist on competitive tender however. Local publishers, printers and
paper merchants are poorly informed of world prices. Printers and paper
merchants seek to ensure that such information is not easily available
to their customers. Bookshops and distribution In many ways financial economics and bookshop development are at loggerheads here. Financially it is logical to deliver textbooks direct to schools and thus avoid an intermediary's mark-up. UK publishers do this more and more to the detriment of bookshops. Most textbooks sell within a very short period of time. A long distribution chain so popular in publishing (publisher - wholesaler - bookshop - customer) is very inefficient although multiple channels are desirable. Competition takes a long time to emerge, so long distribution chains add to textbook prices in developing economies.
Many aid projects include budgets for teachers' manuals but only as a lower priority. The application of teachers' aids as provided by most USA textbook publishers (slides, aids, computer disks, answers, lecture notes, supplementary questions, audio or video cassettes) would be low cost and yield significant benefits to teachers in making classes more interesting.
From the parental or MoE point of view, the textbook is an expensive but durable essential teaching aid. Possible formats for supplementary support materials might include the following:
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