KARACHI: With new academic session in most of the schools starting from today in Pakistan, the prices of course books of all grades have increased by 30 to 35 percent over the last year with parents swarming bookstalls and stationery outlets in huge numbers.
Shopkeepers said that the private publishers, for the last two years, hiking book prices, some even increased the cost thrice in a year.
“There seems to be no government oversight on the sector that is said to be enormously huge.”
Besides books, manufacturers of copies have also raised the cost of their items. Some market sources said that many in copies manufacturing businesses were cheating their clients. “Those who opted not to raise the price to beat the competition have actually reduced the number of pages,” an insider said.
Traders said the price of copies has risen by merely one rupee over the last year but the number of papers reduced considerably. For example, they said a copy of 160 pages, actually contains only 144 pages.
Same tactics are used in making registers, also. However, retailers usually make windfalls on copies and registers since there are no price tags attached to these.
They said that the price of books (Sindh Text Book Board) has also become dearer by at least five to 10 per cent.
There is also a big price difference between copies available in the market and those being provided with courses at designated shops of schools with the name of school printed on copies.
“If we charge a copy containing 160 pages for Rs35-40 then the same is available for Rs50-60 when buying the course from specific outlets with school’s name printed on it,” shopkeepers said.
An owner of a bookstall at the Urdu Bazar Nazimabad, Babar Shaikh said that around 15 to 20 parents had pleaded with him, either to provide textbook courses of their wards on installments or wait for a few months for payments in full.
He said that there was price difference in books depending on the standard of a school. Students of grade 1 to 5 at a particular school may be paying between Rs850-1000 while the course of same grades at other schools may cost parents Rs1,800-2,300.
IANS
