School books are a trade from which private schools profit without supervision!

“Libyan Deepite”

The book of the book in private schools has always been a significant burden on the parents of the parents at the beginning of each academic year, whether before or after the financial collapse. However, it is increasingly eager year after year, in light of the talk about an increase in installments, dollars and amid the deteriorating living conditions in Lebanon. What makes the scene more darker is the transformation of the textbook bill into a tool for a profiter among many private schools, as many of them import books from abroad (benefiting from either customs exemption or discounts from fees as they are for public use), and sell them inside the school campus for parents at prices comparable to prices in regular libraries, knowing that Law 515 issued in 1996, it is forbidden for schools to sell books and stationery in their libraries The Ministry of Economy cannot enter its campus and monitor prices except with the permission of the Ministry of Education.

As a reminder, the majority of books in private schools are foreign source, and their prices are high compared to the book issued by the educational center approved in all public schools, which increases the financial burdens on the parents. Noting that the national education book issued by the center is the only one that all schools abide in the official and private sectors. As for the books in the private sector, it is the school administrations that choose them, and it requires publishing houses to secure them in libraries or sell them directly to the people.

The cost of numbers

In the language of numbers, the book bill in the secondary classes is the most expensive, and it may not be less than $ 500 per student and its cost decreases in the other academic levels, and ranges between 200 dollars for the primary stage and between 300 and 400 dollars for the middle stage if the dependence on foreign publication role is only.

Before that, the people were searching for used books to reduce them to some extent the burden of the book bill, and in recent years a new phenomenon based on the adoption of private schools has grown new editions of the book itself, and this often happens with the beginning of each academic year, and what applies most to foreign books, and without any additions to the content of the book, and the changes occurred in form only. This phenomenon, which withdraws on the overwhelming majority of schools, and actually deprives parents of saving by resorting to the used book, whose fate is damaged.

It is true that the price of new books is mostly parallel to the old edition, but this “trade” will prohibit parents from taking advantage of the used book an additional time, especially among the brothers.

Abu Haider: The people must check the bills of foreign books

The Director General of the Ministry of Economy, Dr. Mohamed Abu Haidar, explains to “Libanon Debate” that “there are patrols by the Consumer Protection Authority to monitor the prices of books issued by the educational center, because the center deposits a copy of its prices with the Ministry of Economy to be able to play its role, and in this part we have not recorded many violations,” pointing out that “foreign books that are approved in private schools are imported from abroad and with bonuses Clearly and in the hard currency when entering Lebanon, and the question is, does the people worry when buying that the books are sold to them at acceptable prices, or are there increases? This is the challenge.

He concludes: “With regard to stationery, the Ministry of Consumer Protection Directorate, on all libraries, to verify the fair prices and profits margins, and when violations occur, violations are undermined against violators and referred to the competent judiciary, in the hope that the fines imposed on violators will be adjusted by the House of Representatives, in order to form an additional deterrent to merchants who do not abide by the laws.”

Long: Schools have turned into commercial institutions and state treasury that they do not benefit from

The head of the family committees gathering for a long time for “Libanon Deepite” that “the burden of books this year for the families of the students is great, because there are many schools that require the purchase of books (the new version) 2025, while the content has not changed because the school curricula have not changed, the reason is that schools arrange deals with publishing houses and get a decisive if their books are sold inside school Thus, it achieves great profits, because it is a law that the Ministry of Economy has no right to monitor schools except with the permission of the Ministry of Education.

“Foreign curricula books such as the French baccalaureate are fictional prices, and schools import these books on their own account, knowing that they are exempt from taxes but sell them to the parents at high prices, and there is no appreciation from school departments for the pressures that parents bear. Note that the cost of the primary school student is about 200 dollars and the middle is about 300 dollars and the books of foreign curricula amount to $ 500”, explaining that “the committees of the people In schools, they are not entitled to interfere in the topic of books as an academic subject, and what we have asked about is to prevent the sale of books in schools because there is no control authority for the Ministry of Economy on them.

And she concluded: “Schools have turned into commercial institutions, without the state treasury benefiting from them, because they are tax exempted, while the Ministry of Economy can exercise control on libraries only.”

Fariha: Trade gets even to write the educational center!

The former president of the educational center, Dr. Nimr Freiha (the current president of the Al -Kafat School), explains to “Liban Dibitte” that “attempts to trade in textbooks take place even for the books of the educational center. In 2002, the head of the center at the time withdrew all books issued by the center and damage them (although the cost of damage was paid from the center’s budget), and the issuance of new prints in its place with the same content with the changing of the cover and the introduction to books Which has become in its name, and new copies were printed at a cost of tens of thousands of dollars, and the publishing houses were definitely benefited from them and at the expense of the pockets of the parents in public schools, and there was no accountability for this behavior, except that the Ministry of Education intentionally stopped damage to a small part of these books and returned them to libraries, under pressure from the media at the time.

He adds: “Pricing for the books of the educational center is through the pricing committee, which estimates the cost of printing for the book (the number of pages, pictures, colors and quantity), in addition to an increase of 17 percent as profits for the educational center, and its example of the public Especially, other private schools that adopt books from entirely foreign publishing houses with the addition of the national education book because it is mandatory.

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