Taipei officials seek lower textbook prices

Lee Chao-yu, a section chief at the Taipei City Government Department of Education, made the announcement yesterday following New Party city council member Wang Hung-wei’s citing that prices of many elementary school textbooks used in Taiwan’s capital are double those paid by parents in the adjacent Taipei County.

Wang said it is unfair for parents in the city to pay the higher price tags for identical books. She pointed out that the city and county governments in the Greater Taipei area had successfully bargained down the prices of several textbooks. More should be done, Wang said, as many textbooks sold in Taipei City were not included in the agreed price cuts.

According to Wang, language textbooks for the local Southern Fujian and Hakka dialects can be bargained down to just NT$25 to NT$42 per copy from the original price range of NT$60 to NT$90 sought by publishers. Computer textbooks held a similar leeway.

Upon Wang’s recommendation, Taipei City’s Department of Education agreed to extend collective bargaining for all textbooks. Lee stressed, however, that the lower prices achieved through group bargaining will be for school reference only and that the Taipei City Government will not interfere with a school’s selection of specific versions or editions. The main benefit of negotiated prices will be the additional information for parents when they select books for their children.

To alleviate the financial burden of parents, the Department of Education will continue to promote the ongoing textbook recycling program, which encourages students to donate their used books to lower grade students.

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