The Junta de Andalucía will spend 93.3 million euros to renew textbooks in Primary Education and for students with specific educational support needs. In the next academic year 2023/2024 they will be around 500,000 Primary and Special Education students who release books. In addition, copies that are not in good condition for use will be renewed.
The more than 90 million euros represent one of the largest investments in free textbooks in recent years. According to the Junta de Andalucía, the Free Textbook Program involves an investment of 293.4 million euros from the 2019/2020 academic yearbenefiting more than 3.7 million students in compulsory education.
For the next course, the students from first grade to sixth grade will receive new books. The books for 1st and 2nd grade are changed every year. The rest of the courses, from the 3rd year of primary school to the 4th year of ESO, are renewed every four years. For this reason, in the 2024/2025 academic year it will be the turn of the 1st and 3rd ESO and in the 2025/2026 school year the new books will be released by the 2nd and 4th ESO students.
The workload this summer in the stationers is being quite considerable. Don Quixote stationery, a renowned family business in Dos Hermanas, Seville, has 19 years of experience receiving book checks. During This year they have received book checks from more than 80% of the city’s schools.
Paco Valdelvira, owner of Don Quixote stationery together with his wife Esther, has told THE OBJECTIVE that the Free Textbook Program of the Junta de Andalucía It is a relief for Andalusian families: «The amounts of what the Primary textbooks cost range between €140 and €180. In ESO we are already talking about €250 to €300. Families with two children, for example, We talked about the fact that they would have to pay an amount between €500 and €600. And is the Board who is in charge of facilitating and paying these amounts ».
Investment in education by the Junta de Andalucía is essential in the current economic outlook. According to the INE, inflation rose to 2.3% in July and food became more expensive by 10.8%. In In the last four years, the price of food and non-alcoholic beverages has increased by 30.9%.
He use of technology in the book request and collection procedure has greatly facilitated access to copies. Families can obtain the book check through the Electronic Collection Point, which is accessed through the iPASEN app. Once the electronic document is downloaded, it can be redeemed in the bookstore in person, by mail or by WhatsApp. If it could not be done electronically, there is also the option of collecting it in person. According to the Junta de Andalucía, Last year, 76.2% of families did it electronically.
in bookstores, This technological path has greatly facilitated the work: «90% of people have sent us this year the check via WhatsApp and it is much more comfortable. Families do not have to wait in line, nor do they have to be hot. We receive the check, make the reservation and notify the client. In this sense, technology has helped us a lot with both suppliers and customers”says Paco Valdelvira, owner of Papelería el Quijote.
The family business Papelería el Quijote, despite receiving a good number of orders, assures that the decrease due to the birth rate is notable: «While other years the schools had up to two or three class lines per course, this year most of them have one line»says Paco Valdelvira.
The birth rate trend is downward. According to the INE, Spain registered 129,306 births during the first five months of 2024, 2.3% less than the same period in 2022 and the lowest figure for the first five months of the year in the last seven years.
According to the Junta de Andalucía, free textbooks is a right recognized in the Statute of Autonomy and supported by Law 17/2007, of December 10, on Education in Andalusia. The Free Textbook Program is a loan system.
Once the academic year is over, the Students must return the textbooks to the center to which they belong so that classmates from later years can use it. In addition, the Junta de Andalucía adds that “the objective of this program is to teach students from the educational and family sphere the importance of taking care of school supplies and being responsible for the investment made in their education».
2023-08-18 01:38:50
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