The excessive use of reference books in schools, as well as their sky-high prices, has become a burden for many parents, Taiwan Solidarity Union secretary-general Cheng Cheng-lung (
On average, junior high school students use around 30 textbooks over six semesters, costing approximately NT$5000.
But to buy a complete set of reference books, for example for the Nan-I company, would cost roughly NT$65,000, 11.3 times the price of textbooks, Cheng said.
PHOTO: LIU HSIN-DER, TAIPEI TIMES
Nan-I offers 311 reference books for three school years, causing a huge burden for many students' families when they are expected to purchase almost all of them, Cheng said.
Pressure
"Parents also worry that their children will fall behind if they don't purchase the complete set of reference books, or in some cases, multiple sets," Cheng said.
If every single reference book made per year was purchased, the price would come to NT$225,000, Cheng said, as he spread hundreds of reference books across the courtyard of the Legislative Yuan.
Many of these reference books have similar content that is hidden behind differently labeled covers such as "Learning Guide," "Review Guide" or "Question Booklet," Cheng said.
Originally, reference books were made to encourage students to learn from sources other than textbooks. However, the excessive use of them has caused students to continuously review the same content, not being able to take in new knowledge, Cheng said.
Rules
Cheng said that he hopes the Ministry of Education will understand the severity of the problem, and called for regulation of reference books.
Regulations should include the inspection of reference books in addition to textbooks that have already been inspected, Cheng said.
Reference books should not be allowed to offer so-called "new editions" each year, when the publishers alter only a few sentences from the old version, Cheng said, adding that textbooks and reference books should be good for a six-year period, during which publishers should not be allowed to offer different editions.
"This way, little brothers or sisters at home can continue using the books after the older child is done with them," said Cheng.
Schools should not pressure students into buying reference books for classes, he added.
General-director of the education ministry's Department of Elementary Education Chen Ming-yin (
Reference books are not compulsory, and students should not be pressured into buying them, Chen said. Students should also learn that outside reading is another way of learning.
Even though the content of textbooks has been simplified, teachers should not rely too much on reference books, he added.
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