The unholy triumvirate of publishing houses, book shop owners and the private school owners ensure the cost escalation of the textbooks available for the students of the private schools. The greed of the private school owners is so high that these schools give orders to the publishers giving maximum commissions, compromising with the quality of textbook in the process.
Dehradun, which is famous for its schools, has about 165 private schools in the city alone. These schools not only impart education to the local children but also cater those coming from different parts of the country. The city being an educational hub also attracts the attention of business hungry publishing houses. Ironically both the publishing houses and private school owners consider the students as a commodity as they engage in deals that can give any seasoned businessman a run for his money.
On the basis of the student strength in a school, the publishers offer the commission percentage and also offer a hefty amount as an advance to the private school owners. The schools give their nod to the books of that publisher who offers the best deal. After the deal with the publishers the school owners tie up with the book shop owners. The book shop owners are also keen to strike a deal with the schools as it gives them a big client base and readymade customers. The schools also engage in a hard bargain with book shop owners and provide books to that stall which naturally offers maximum cut from the total sales. One book shop owner told The Pioneer that the school owners are in a win-win situation as they get commissions from both the publishers and the book shop owners. The only sufferers in this game of commissions are the hapless parents of the students who have to pay a very high price for the books. Representative of a big publishing house said that some publishers sponsor foreign and domestic tours and also give expensive gifts to the private school owners to keep them in good humor.
The President of Uttarakhand Parents Association Niraj Singhal told The Pioneer that to break the nexus between the publishers, book sellers and schools the government should strictly ensure that only books of National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) are prescribed by all the private schools. He said the text books of NCERT are best in content, print and paper quality. Singhal said that the NCERT books are very cheap but the shop owners do no want to sell them as they get only 10% commission from their sales.