Looking at textbooks:
Secretary for Education Michael Suen has accepted a report suggesting the textbook market needs to open up to encourage diversified development to provide quality value-for-money learning materials.
Textbook competition endorsed
December 13, 2011
Secretary for Education Michael Suen has accepted a report suggesting the textbook market needs to open up to encourage diversified development to provide quality value-for-money learning materials.
The advice was tabled by the Task Force to Review Learning & Teaching Materials, formed by the Education Bureau in June to study the debundling of textbooks and teaching materials.
“I have accepted the specific recommendations proposed by the task force and would like to express my sincere thanks to the task force members for their strenuous efforts and time,” Mr Suen said.
Right time for e-learning
The report said it is an opportune time to further implement e-learning. It also suggested e-learning resources move beyond their existing supportive role as resources to complement traditional printed textbooks, to the more vital role of “e-textbooks”.
E-textbooks should form a complete and independent set of learning and teaching materials, and be developed according to curriculum objectives, content and implementation requirements set by the Curriculum Development Council, as is the case with traditional printed textbooks.
To help schools transition and adapt to the new learning mode, the task force recommended the newly developed e-textbooks provide a print-on-demand function allowing teachers to print the contents of the textbooks on a needs basis.
In view of the distortion and monopolisation in the traditional printed textbook market, the task force reiterated the need to introduce competition in developing the e-textbook market.
It recommended the Government provide incentives and assistance to attract organisations to join the market and develop quality and reasonably priced e-textbooks, and to provide users with a greater choice of effective learning and teaching resources.
“We will not introduce a mandatory e-learning policy. It will be implemented gradually depending on the capacity of teachers and students as well as the readiness of schools. Schools interested in adapting the new learning mode will be provided with adequate support,” Mr Suen said.
“We will take into account the task force’s recommendations in formulating the related mechanism and measures to promote the development of e-textbooks. Details of the arrangement will be announced in the first quarter of next year.
“The development of e-textbooks can provide an interactive and diversified learning mode. It can also enhance flexibility in compiling textbooks, as well as reduce the costs of production, printing, storage and logistics.
"Individual modules can be priced and put on sale separately, resulting in more affordable textbooks as customers can purchase individual modules according to their needs.”
Printed textbooks
The task force said the existing review system for printed textbooks has been effective in ensuring the quality of textbooks. The Recommended Textbook List is also widely accepted by schools as a reference in textbook selection.
To lessen publishers’ risk and lower the entry barrier to the textbook market, the task force suggested the textbook review process be improved by retaining the existing timetable of quarterly submission. Publishers should also be allowed to submit textbooks for a Key Stage, that is a three-year block, in batches, that is by year level, on a trial basis for subjects deemed appropriate.
It also recommends the use of a “double-blind” system in conducting textbook reviews. Under the new arrangement, non-Education Bureau external reviewers will not be given information on the publishers or writers of the textbooks being reviewed so as to enhance the objectivity and impartiality of the exercise.
In addition to improving the textbook review system, the task force suggested the enhancement of transparency of information in the Recommended Textbook List to provide consumers with more information on whether learning and teaching materials offer value for money.
It said commentaries on textbooks can be included in the Recommended Textbook List to enhance transparency and provide more information to facilitate schools’ selection of textbooks. The commentaries will cover areas of a textbook which score relatively good ratings on the core criteria in the textbook review.
It recommends information on comparisons and changes of textbook prices be included in the Recommended Textbook List for parents’ information and school’s reference in the selection of textbooks.
“We will implement the recommendations on improvement of the textbook review system in the next round of textbook submission and in the next school year when teachers will need to select textbooks,” Mr Suen said.
Click
here for the report.
