Public schools textbook prices down
Read this great news from Inquirer (Jan 11, 2008, A13).
In 1998, the cost of each textbook was:
— 70 pesos for elementary books
— 120 pesos for secondary books
Last year, the cost went down to:
— 37 pesos for elementary
— 59 pesos for secondary.
This is one big step to make textbooks more accessible to more poor Filipino students. But, I believe we can still reduce this further, through Bayanihan Books.
Since the materials from the Bayanihan Books are royalty free, there is no need for publishers to pay the authors. The publishers will only shoulder the printing costs. Given that there are 17.5 million students enrolled in public schools, I’m sure publishers can earn millions of pesos with a low-margin, high volume, guaranteed payment scheme. The government needs less money to spend, more students get the complete books, the publishers earn lots of money. Everyone is happy. Perfect!!!
Furthermore, the Bayanihan Books are licensed using Creative Commons that explicitly allows the use of these materials by any publishers. Therefore, more publishers bidding for the government contract results to more competition and avoids the monopoly of a few big name publishers.
Another great benefit of Bayanihan Books is that printing does not need to be done by a single or few publishers. There is no need for a company based in Manila to supply the books of students in Cebu or Davao. After all, what’s so unique about printing a book anyway? It is the same banana whether it is printed in Baguio or in Laoag. The printing of the textbooks can be done locally. For example, DepEd can ask publishers in Cebu to bid for the textbooks that will be given to Cebuanos. Also, the local government of Cebu can subsidize the printing of these textbooks, further reducing the cost for DepEd. DepEd is happy, Cebu companies are happy, local government is happy, the students are happy. Again, everyone is happy. Isn’t that cool or what?
Localized printing also makes sure who’s responsible for the textbooks. DepEd Cebu and the local government can no longer point to DepEd Central Office or the publisher in Manila for failing to supply the textbooks. They can solve their problems without relying on centralized approval. And if they don’t address the problems, the local DepEd office and government has no one to blame but themselves.
(Note to self: I need to verify with Atty. Guerrero if printing the textbook constitutes a commercial use and what provisions should be added in our license.)
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Hi, Greg. You might want to consider using the BY-SA or the BY licenses with the books to allow paragraph 5 (”publishers making money”); which of course should come from consensus of those contributing to the project (as yours is a collective work [otherwise known as joint work in other jurisdictions]). BY-NC-SA, BY-NC-ND, and BY-NC would not be able to provide a “for-profit” configuration, as explicit permission would still be required for any publisher to pursue commercial printing of the books, similar to which can be found under an “All Rights Reserved” regime.
BY allows commercial use and modifications to the work; while BY-SA allows the same but with the additional requirement that if the work is modified, the user has to license his derivative work under the same license (BY-SA).
So, if you would want to allow commercial exploitation of the works generated by the project, and avoid the discussions on non-commercial and commercial uses (as commercial use is allowed anyways), consider BY or BY-SA, although BY-SA would better suited to foster a sharing culture.
To expound the above paragraph (as to the discussions on non-commercial/commercial uses), I cannot provide an authoritative conclusion as to what “non-commercial” would actually mean (as different jurisdictions interpret it differently), but there is a general consensus that anything that would generate money for the user is considered “commercial.” On the other hand, there are certain discussions whether the use of the work a commercial entity, even if there would not be any profit that would be generated in said use, should be considered commercial or non-commercial. This ambiguity would have an impact to the scenario where a for-profit corporation sponsors the reproduction of the work for non-profit purposes, as some contend that cultivation of goodwill and corporate reputation enhances the corporate value (which can be transformed to something pecuniary in the future).
Hope this helps in your project’s direction.
Hi Greg,
I read about the Inquirer article about what you do and would like to explore if we can use your business approach in developing an online version for the same purpose.
Please advise to what extent have you gone in publishing textbooks royalty free.
Thanks.
Charles
Greg,
This is a great idea, and has a chance of making a difference. I have been working with American school districts, teachers and administrators interested in collaboratively creating Open Content curriculum and texts.
I don’t know to what degree I can help, but our wiki currently has over 8,000 pages and 2,300 files uploaded. The curriculum standards, and the supporting documents are all Creative Commons licensed.
As an aside, my wife is Filipina from Bacoor, and I just got back from a four week trip to Luzon, Mindoro and Negros
I will join your Google Group, and look at the documents there.
Regards,
Johncn
Hi Greg,
This idea of yours is great. It would even be greater if the majority of Filipino children have web access then you can just put these contents online and not even bother with the publishers. But sadly, this is not the case yet.
Maybe if you can compile enough materials to make textbooks and have DepEd approve these in the school curriculum. Then anyone can just print these out and photocopy or mimeograph them. Wouldn’t these be cheaper and propagation would be instantaneous. No one needs to benefit from these except the school children. Well yeah, Fuji Xerox will make money.
your objectives are laudable.
but in the end, you are still dealing with atoms (instead of bits) and atoms are expensive to create, move/transport, store and manipulate (if need be).
@Atty Berne: As always, very helpful with CC matters. I think the best license would be the BY-SA because it makes it publisher/for-profit friendly but at the same time ensures the continuity of sharing derivate works with others. Now, does this also mean anyone can photocopy a textbook that is based on CC-BY? I hope it is allowed.
@Charles: Not sure I understand what you mean regarding the “business approach” part. You can email me at greg.moreno@gmail.com if you want a private conversation. About publishing textbooks royalty free, I don’t have any experience yet but we will soon have in 2 years
@John: Thanks for pointing your wiki. Feel free to share your wiki to the Bayanihan mailing list. I’m sure everyone will find it useful.
@anonymous: I wish to see someday majority of Filipino children having cheap and abundant access to the Internet. I like your idea of allowing photocopies of printed materials. I need to verify if that is already covered by our CC license.
@bingo: Yes, atoms are more expensive than bits. But bits require medium that are way more expensive to built and maintain. If only majority of Filipinos have cheap and instant access to the Internet, then we wouldn’t need to worry about printing.
Greg, Since printing is allowed, I don’t see why photocopying is not. The question is: When the material is photocopied, is the title page removed or not? (There should be a way to attribute the photocopied material to the licensor, and the license in which it is covered, so as not to violate the permission given).
Also, Bayanihan Books has been featured at the Creative Commons International website: http://creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/8034
hi, please help my pamangkin because she will go to grade 4 and she has not a book of grade 4, hekasi and wikang pambasa for grade 4 pupils.
Good day,
Can you please list down all the public TEXT books needed for high school students from their first up to their last year?
I am trying to look for them in stores! But I don’t have the right list on hand. I hope you could help me.
Thanks!