Parents are being advised to continue with the purchasing of their children's textbooks, as the free textbooks handed out by government is first being carried out in the Eastern division mainly in Lau and Lomaiviti.
The Education Ministry said this is being done in phases and following the Eastern division, the distribution will then move onto the North, West and finally in the Central Division. The Ministry said the initiative is expected to be completed by 2011 for all primary schools.
Meanwhile the Consumer Council of Fiji is calling on parents preparing to buy books to check out book prices at the government bookshop before checking out other bookshops.
The Chief Executive Officer of Consumer Council of Fiji, Premila Kumar said that parents should not buy all the books from one bookshop as prices fluctuate in different shops.
She said that after doing their survey they have found that the prices for many textbooks have gone up.
Kumar said that the prices of lecture pads which are essential for students also show different prices.
Fijivillage checked textbook prices at different bookshops in the country and has found that prices have not changed at all at the Government bookshop.
However, prices for books coming in from overseas have increased by 30% to 60% in many bookshops due to freight charges while prices for some local books have increased by 5 to 20%.
A well-known bookshop which wished to remain anonymous said that for some local text books, prices have gone up from $5 to $7 while prices for overseas textbooks have increased by $5 upwards.
Meanwhile, the Education Ministry has so far issued books to all the 29 Primary Schools in Kadavu and Rotuma and is delivering books in Lau.
Parents advised on free textbook scheme
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