Schools struggle to replace textbooks as state funding stays unchanged

Schools are struggling to replace deteriorating paper textbooks because state funding for learning materials has remained unchanged for 10 years, ERR reported. Publishers say their costs have risen, while the Ministry of Education says digital solutions should help ease shortages.

Jüri Käosaar, head of Gustav Adolfi Gymnasium, a school, told ERR that although schools have some new and usable learning materials, they do not have enough money to buy everything they need.

“Considering the size of the student body and how much prices have risen over the past 10 years, while the money allocated by the state for learning materials has remained unchanged, that is where the gap comes from,” Käosaar said.

He said the school does have textbooks, although some are not in the best condition. In some subjects, paper textbooks are available for use at school, and he said he knew of no students who were completely without a textbook. However, some books are no longer sufficiently up to date after 10 years of active use.

Käosaar said additional funding would be the simplest solution, but acknowledged that finding the money would not be easy. He could not specify exactly how much his school would need, but said the amount would certainly exceed four figures.

“A textbook costs 20 to 30 euros, there are at least 10 subjects in each year group, and we have 12 year groups with at least four parallel classes. Unfortunately, a four-figure sum would achieve nothing here,” Käosaar said.

Publishers face rising costs

Aavo Kennik, head of Studium, a textbook publisher, agreed that schools were facing a problem and said textbooks were being used for increasingly longer periods.

“If a textbook’s service life was perhaps five or six years 10 years ago, now it is certainly a few years longer,” Kennik said, adding that the main reason was insufficient state funding for schools.

He said textbook prices had risen along with the general cost of living, including author fees, editing, design, printing and publishers’ profit margins. Kennik said textbook publishers’ profits had slightly declined rather than increased in recent years.

Publishers are trying to keep prices down, including by printing workbooks on thinner paper, but there are limits to such savings. Using paper that is too thin would make the print and illustrations show through, while students are also accustomed to colour textbooks. Excessive cost-cutting would reduce quality, Kennik said.

Ministry prioritises teacher pay and digital solutions

Haana Zuba-Reinsalu, head of the teacher policy and education management department at the Ministry of Education, said the state allocates around eight million euros a year in learning-material support to local governments, or an estimated 57 euros per student.

Zuba-Reinsalu acknowledged that the amount does not cover all costs and that state support has not been changed for many years.

“It has been the government’s decision that teachers’ wage growth is the bigger issue, while other costs have been less able to keep up,” Zuba-Reinsalu said. She added that retaining teachers in schools remained a continuing priority in budget negotiations.