Back to school

The new academic year begins January 10th. Since the Form 1 admission on Monday, parents are already rushing to shops to buy books and school materials for their kids. What are the new books on the market? What is the availability? What are the prices regarding school expenditure? News on Sunday reports.

A new academic year with new curriculum and new perspective will begin on Monday January 10th. As announced by the Minister of Education last week, the Nine-Year Schooling reform will mainly target Form 3 students. Regarding the overall availability of textbooks, Prithvi Fowdur, director of Antara Bookshop, explains that this year is the best year. “It is the best year regarding availability of books in a decade. All books are available on the market. There has been a great improvement regarding the supply of books,” he says. According to Prithvi Fowdur, this is so because “the Éditions de L’Ocean Indien (EOI) has been privatised. Due to this, things have improved drastically.”

Regarding the new books on the market, Prithvi Fowdur says that ‘Oral’ has been introduced as from Form 1 to Form 3 for academic year 2017. “Textbooks in Oral English and French, from Form 1 to Form 3, are new on the market. These will be available in about 10-15 days.” 

At Éditions Le Printemps Ltd (ELP), Ahmad Sulliman explains that most textbooks for academic year 2017 are available. “The only books which are not available yet are the Form 3 science books namely Physics Today, Biology Today and Chemistry Form 3. Also books like Success on Maths Form 4 and English Inside for both Form 4 and Form 5 are not yet available.” Éditions Le Printemps reassures parents that all books will be available on the market by December 27th.  At University Book shop in Port Louis, they also explain that the science books for Form 3 are not yet available. 

Have book prices increased? Both at Antara and University bookshops they explain that there is nothing alarming regarding prices. “Prices have increased only by Rs 10 to Rs 15. These mainly concern new editions,” explains Prithvi Fowdur. 

Price of school material

At the University Bookshop, prices for school material start as from Rs 10 for a pencil case. “The price of a dozen of copybook costs around Rs 165, a sketch pad at Rs 35, dozen pencils at Rs 55, pens as from Rs 5, watercolour sets as from Rs 200, pen sets as from Rs 100, paint brush set as from Rs 65. Overall it can cost a parent nearly Rs 600 for school materials.”

At Éditions Le Printemps, prices for school material vary depending on the age of the children and his class. “For secondary students, the price of school material varies. It also depends on subjects. Those doing Art at upper level will definitely spend more on sketch pads, watercolors, and brushes, among others. For a Form 1 student, the average expenditure will be around Rs 1,000. For Form 4 to Upper Six students, prices for school materials can go up to Rs 3,000.”

Price for School Bags

Nizam Joomun, who sells school bags for over ten years at Louis Pasteur Street Port Louis, explains that prices also vary depending on the child’s age. “Prices start as from Rs 300. For example, the price of a school bag for a pre-primary student starts at Rs 350. For primary and secondary level, prices start as from Rs 450.” For lunch bags, prices range from Rs 75 and Rs 100.

Nizam Joomun explains that the price range will thus vary from Rs 350 to Rs 1,250. He adds that since the last two or three years, trolley bags have known much success. “Many parents choose to buy trolley bags for their kids especially those at primary level. As backpacks are often too heavy to carry due to the load of books, parents thus prefer to buy trolley bags for their kids.” The latter says that the trolley bags represent 20% of the sales. Prices for trolley bags start from Rs 650.