Transparency and openness are needed.

For example, the registration list for 5th grade textbooks for the 2024-2025 school year includes 22 textbooks and workbooks. The total value of this set is 448,000 VND, and so far, all parents who registered to buy the books have paid in full. According to calculations, for the "Connecting Knowledge with Life" textbook set (excluding workbooks and supplementary books), if the lowest discount is 11%, the amount of "commission" deducted by the publisher is equivalent to 49,280 VND per set.

According to our investigation, the school's enrollment target for first grade in the 2023-2024 school year is 360 students. If the school enrolls all students annually, it is estimated that the entire school will have approximately 1,800 students. Therefore, the estimated percentage of the cost of textbooks purchased annually, based on the total number of students buying books, is approximately 80 million VND.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Ngoc, Principal of Phan Dinh Giot Primary School, stated that the school's library department will be responsible for purchasing textbooks for the new school year based on student registrations. Textbooks are purchased according to the guidelines of the Thanh Xuan District Department of Education and Training regarding the content and list of textbooks for each subject. When asked about discounts on textbooks, Ms. Ngoc said, "the school does not receive any." This means that teachers also do not receive a percentage of the book distribution and sales fees.

Since the end of the previous school year, first-grade students at the Ly Thai To Education System (Cau Giay District, Hanoi) have been given a list to register for purchasing second-grade textbooks for the 2024-2025 school year. This list includes 21 books, nearly half of which are workbooks from the "Connecting Knowledge with Life" series. By May 12th, parents had completed the registration and paid the homeroom teacher.

The price of each book is the same as the publisher's listed price. The total value of the book set is 351,000 VND. Based on the percentage discount on publishing fees (at least 11%), each student receives a discount of 38,600 VND. According to our research, the enrollment target for first grade in the primary school system in 2024 is 320 students. The entire primary school system is estimated to have 1,600 students, equivalent to a discount of approximately 61 million VND.

Speaking with a reporter from Tien Phong newspaper, the principal of another private school said that the school receives a discount when purchasing books. According to a private school principal in Hanoi, the school purchases books according to the education department's guidelines, and the percentage discount from textbook sales for the school is only 5% to 7%. However, the number of students enrolling each year varies, so the percentage of the distribution fee retained is usually enough to cover the excess textbooks purchased or textbooks used by teachers for research and teaching.

Publishers need to disclose the percentage.

In the 2023-2024 school year, Hanoi has 145 high schools, 826 primary schools, and 675 secondary schools, with approximately 2.3 million students. Therefore, the estimated discount on textbooks for students across Hanoi amounts to tens of billions of VND. According to statistics from the Ministry of Education and Training , in the 2023-2024 school year, there were 6.5 million secondary school students, 2.9 million high school students, and 8.9 million primary school students. Thus, the textbook and workbook market has approximately 18.3 million customers.

Based on the book purchase registration lists provided by parents above, and assuming an average price of approximately 350,000 VND per set of textbooks per student for all grades (both current and new curricula), parents could potentially spend over 6.4 trillion VND per year. Even with the lowest discount rate of 11%, the total discount would still amount to over 700 billion VND.

Speaking to reporters, Dr. Nguyen Tung Lam, Chairman of the Hanoi Educational Psychology Association, said that selling textbooks follows the rules of commodity distribution, with a discount rate, and this is permissible. This is a way to operate faster and better.

"However, publishers must publicly disclose the percentage of revenue allocated to each department, such as the district/county education office, the school, and the teacher, for fairness and transparency. This is a right that all participants deserve, and it cannot be allowed to continue as it is now. Secret agreements or concentration of revenue in favor of one person is unfair," Dr. Lam suggested.