The Education Ministry has used about $1.5million to provide textbooks assistance to primary schools for 2009 to 2011.

Minister Filipe Bole said that the exercise began last year with $1million taken from its annual budgetary allocation.

He said the money has been used to buy books from the Government Supplies and Government Printery.

Bole confirms that the Ministry has allocated another $400,000 towards the purchase of books produced by private authors from local bookshops, purchase of books from New Zealand and payment to the government for the cost of printing textbooks.

He said that about $288,639 will be used from this year's allocation for books for the Eastern, Northern and part of the Western Education districts.

Bole said that other factors like stock exchange, freight charges and costs of providing books for the rest of Western and Central Division will cost the Ministry further $267,212.

The Minister adds that the total cost for supplying free textbooks to primary schools in the four divisions will altogether cost $1,560,200.58 however the transportation costs in not included in this cost.