You are viewing your 1 free article this month. Login to read more articles.
The Publishers Association has called for more government investment in learning resources after a survey revealed the schoolbook market was hit by cutbacks this year, with further cuts anticipated in 2012.
The PA's recently published Learning Resource Review (LRR), which polled 1,445 primary and secondary headteachers, revealed the average primary school estimates it will have spent 7% less cash on books and printed material in the 2010–11 period, with secondary schools expecting to spend 4% less.
On average, each primary school has spent £3,730 on books and printed material in 2010–11, down £261 from 2009–10. The average secondary has spent £26,320, down £1,052 on the previous year.
Book spend in the new academic year is likely to be hit even further with primary schools estimating overall learning resource spend to decline by a further 5.8% in 2011–12. Secondary schools, meanwhile, will see a fall of 4.9%. Around 10% of overall learning resource budgets is spent on books.
The Educational Publishers' Council (EPA), the schools division of the PA, estimates educational resources used to teach children are worth "at least £270m, perhaps as high as £370m" to the industry, with the textbooks market estimated to be worth at least £150m and digital worth £65m, with other printed material comprising the rest.
Graham Taylor, PA director of education, academic and professional publishing, said next year will be "challenging" for academic publishers.
He said: "Flat-cash budgets will be perceived as cuts, so most schools will aim to be conservative with spending plans, especially over discretionary items like learning resources at a time when new curriculum and assessment arrangements are still under review. "We would urge [that] learning resources are prioritised across primary and secondary school budgets in the year ahead, since research has shown this can bring direct benefits to pupil performance."
However, Taylor added: "After [the next financial year] there is a good chance that things will pick up because the new syllabus and curriculum will kick in . . . Schools will have more control over their budget, there will be a more organic market for publishers."
The LRR also indicated teachers place more emphasis on books than digital material, with 32% of primary and 23% of secondary schools believing printed materials are likeliest to raise standards of learning, compared to 5% of primary and 13% of secondary which hold the same view for digital.
Rod Bristow, president of Pearson UK, one of the largest publishers in the sector, said both print and digital play a vital role in education and schools needed the right support and advice on how best to combine textbooks with technology.