Private schools in Guwahati are selling books and uniforms in the city at exorbitant prices and the parents often have no option but to buy them.
According to sources, several prominent schools in the city ask the parents to buy course books, uniforms and shoes from particular designated shops which usually sell the books in sets.
These sets often cost more and consist of unnecessary items in stationery, feel parents. They say that the books and notebooks would cost much less if they bought them from the market and not from the shops designated by the schools.
Parents, on the other hand, have raised a concern that they are almost forced to buy the books and uniforms from designated shops which the schools prescribe for them.
A parent of a Grade XI student in a prominent CBSE school in Guwahati told G Plus that he had to shell out close to Rs 10,000 recently for buying books and uniforms for his child who had taken admission in the school.
“The schools usually have a tie up with designated shops and the parents are told that the shop is their official supplier. So 99 per cent of the time, the parents follow the school’s instruction and buy books from these shops,” informed the parent, Rohit Sarawgi.
He further added that at times when the parents buy the uniform or shoes from a different store, the school authorities raise objections if there are even some minor differences in the shoes etc.
Salonie Majumdar, another parent of a child studying in a private school in Guwahati shared similar grievances and said that she sometimes resorts to buying some of the course books online in order to cut down on the total cost.
“For the past few years, we have been purchasing a few books online which are available at lower prices. To add to this, we sometimes also borrow books from students who have passed out,” mentioned Majumdar.
She also complained that the sets also comprise notebook covers, pencils, name stickers, cello tape and other supplies which are often not required.
‘We stock books as per orders received by schools,’ Bookstore owners
Additionally, the bookstore owners say that they stock the books as per the orders received by the schools.
Subhash Jain, the owner of Student Gallery which sells books and uniform sets of some of the premier private schools of the city told G Plus that they keep the materials according to the demands of the schools.
“Some of the prominent schools including DPS, Royal Global School and Sarala Birla Gyan Jyoti in Guwahati ask us to provide books, stationery, uniforms and shoes which are all included in the set,” he said adding that on the other hand, some schools only ask the store to provide book sets to the parents.
He added that the price of the book and uniform sets ranges from class to class and as per the requirements of the schools.
Some of the stationery items included in the book sets are art and craft supplies for junior classes and worksheets for senior students.
When asked if the schools charge some commission on every set of books, another well-known bookseller in Guwahati said on the condition of anonymity that they do not charge any commission but ask the booksellers to provide discount to the parents.
Further, the owner of Bani Mandir - which is the supplier of books and school material for Don Bosco School among others - informed that the price of book sets also depends on the schools and different schools make different curriculums and decide on which books to keep in the course for different classes as per their syllabi.
School authorities say sets designed for parents’ convenience
While the parents have complained about the schools for charging exorbitant money for book and uniform sets, school authorities on the other hand say that these sets are made for easy availability of books and uniform for parents.
“Every school has their own curriculum for every class and we select books based on the curriculum of the school. Sometimes, if we do not give books from our side and if we don’t prescribe a particular shop, it becomes very difficult for the parents to search for individual books in the market separately,” informed a senior official at one of the premier schools in Guwahati.
She added that their school does not prescribe any stationery or school bags for the students.
Further, she also mentioned that the schools do have tie ups with bookstores and they get certain commission per set “but it depends on school to school.”