Schoolbooks, more expensive next year
AT the end of a meeting held on Wednesday, May 25, the Interministerial Commission on Prices at the Department of Competition, Prices and Subsidies (of the Ministry of Finance), granted schoolbook publishers an initial increase of 25% from the next school year. This decision comes in response to recurring complaints from publishers dating back more than six months due to the soaring price of paper on the international scene.
“We have been asking for a revision of the price of books for more than six months, which has remained frozen for 20 years while all the inputs have experienced a vertiginous increase. On Thursday, May 26, paper was trading at 1,520 euros per ton versus 650 to 700 euros last December. This will result in an increase in the price of school notebooks and of reams of paper, among other things”, explains a publisher. This increase is attributed to the surge in the price of raw materials and maritime freight and to the closure of the main pulp mills in the world due to Covid for several months at the height of the pandemic. The increase in paper prices has had a negative impact on margins in the publishing industry since the start of the health crisis. As a result, the authorization given to publishers by the Interministerial Commission on Prices is timely.
Indeed, the situation had become untenable for the publishers: “Under these conditions, without a helping hand from the Government, we would be unable to print the textbooks for the next school year. And even a 25% increase is still insufficient because the increase in the price of paper is much greater”, says a publisher. Another stakeholder adds by stating that the price of paper has increased by more than 120%. This is why people from the industry asked on a regular basis for a 66% increase to absorb the soaring price of paper. But in a context marked by general increases, the Interministerial Commission had to adopt a middle-of-the-road solution by authorizing a 25% increase in the price of schoolbooks as a first phase.
Assurances have been given to the industry about a potential further increase if the price of paper continues to rise next year. Interviewed by L’Economiste, two professionals are of the opinion that it is better than nothing and that the main thing is that textbooks should be available on time. Textbooks cover primary to baccalaureate. The schoolbook market is estimated at 25 million copies, 70% of which are distributed directly to students as part of the (Moroccan Government´s) “1 million schoolbags” operation. This figure has been maintained for symbolism only because, in fact, 4.5 million schoolbags are distributed each year via the INDH ( National Initiative for Human Development) program. The remaining 30% are purchased by students from booksellers and private schools, which encroach on booksellers´ turf. Booksellers have been constantly denouncing this situation by challenging private schools´ possibility of buying schoolbooks to resell them to students. It is therefore the students of the private sector who will be impacted by the price increase since they do not benefit from the “1 million schoolbags” operation, the budget of which was set this year at 450 million MAD (about USD 45 million). The budget is intended to cover the purchase of schoolbooks, school uniforms, supplies, and transport costs. According to the estimates of a professional, the 25% increase represents approximately 70 million MAD, which will fall into the purse of publishers. This is at most a band-aid because of the very low price of the book used in the public, compared to that of the private sector and of schoolbooks used in public European schools in Morocco which sometimes exceed 400 MAD.
Hassan EL ARIF
