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Education Low-Priced Book Scheme
7.13 p.m.
Lord St. John of Bletso rose to ask Her Majesty's Government, in the light of previous assurances from the Government that the ELBS (Education Low-Priced Book Scheme) will be replaced in 1997 by something better, what progress the ODA (Overseas Development Agency) has made in planning and promoting an alternative scheme and what resources will be made available to support it.
The noble Lord said: My Lords, I am delighted to have an opportunity today to introduce this debate. As the Minister is aware, I have for some time been an ardent supporter of the ODA and of the able leadership of the noble Baroness, Lady Chalker. However, I must say that I found it difficult to comprehend why the Government decided last year to phase out the education low-priced book scheme, which for many years has been both cost-effective and, just as important, extremely well managed.
There is no doubt that the scheme has made a major contribution to Britain's influence and reputation abroad. The arguments for the retention of what I shall refer to as the ELBS were well covered in the debate of 17th May of last year initiated by the noble Lord, Lord Thomson of Monifieth, who I am delighted to see will be speaking in this debate.
The purpose of this debate is to address what progress the ODA has made in planning and promoting an alternative scheme with, in the words of the Minister:
- "something better when the ELBS is replaced in April of next year".
This debate also seeks to address what resources will be made available to support any proposed replacement scheme. In her reply to the noble Lord, Lord Thomson of Monifieth, the Minister said that the ELBS would be phased out because the ODA wanted to replace it with something better and she said that many of the concerns raised by noble Lords were based on:
- "a misconception of our intentions and of the operation of the scheme".
For those noble Lords who are not familiar with the ELBS, it was set up some 35 years ago by the ODA to supply British subsidised textbooks to students at tertiary level in poor countries--in Africa, Asia, the Pacific, the Caribbean and the Mediterranean--covering
practical disciplines such as medicine, science, engineering and business management. One of the major beneficiaries has been India.British publishers have been paid a subsidy which has enabled them to produce and sell ELBS editions at a fraction of the standard edition price. From the ELBS sales by region for the calendar year 1995, more than 1.1 million books were distributed at an average unit cost to the ODA of only £2.50 per book compared with the average retail price of about £18.
I noted that one of the criticisms of the Minister of the ELBS was that the subsidy in many cases did not reach the poorer students. From the figures that I have, it appears that last year, 80 per cent. went to World Bank so-called "low income countries".
Many believe that the ODA does not regard tertiary education as a high priority and that it is elitist. Could the Minister, when she winds up this debate, comment on whether this assumption is true or false? It is noteworthy that the report in September 1994 on a review of ELBS, while it had many justifiable criticisms, recommended that the scheme should continue but should be reformulated so as to meet its development objectives more effectively.
I noted that, in answer to the Written Question by the noble Baroness, Lady David, on 17th July this year as to what progress has been made in providing a replacement for the ELBS, the Minister replied that:
- "ODA's Education Division has had extensive discussions with various interested parties in the UK, including publishers, booksellers, the BBC and the British Council; consultations have also been initiated with relevant officials in Ministries of Education in three countries in Central Africa with a view to starting pilot book projects in this current year."--[Official Report, 17/7/96; col. WA 62.]
However, I understand from the working group of book professionals, that most participants favoured an "ELBS-style" replacement, but that the ODA's Chief Education Adviser had told them that this was not an option.
If, and I stress if, the Minister has an interest in promoting tertiary education in poorer countries, would she not agree that continuity in the supply of individual titles over the years is essential and that in many poorer countries, courses have been built around the ELBS textbooks that they have received?
Eileen Gillow, the head of ELBS administration, pointed out in her outline proposal for tertiary level textbook provision in the developing world that:
- "students' ownership of their own textbooks is considered highly desirable by academics both in the UK and the developing world".
While I am well aware of the many commendable schemes that the ODA has implemented for providing books and other educational assistance to targeted countries and regions, I cannot fathom in what way the
ODA feels that the ELBS has not provided value for money. The figure that I gave your Lordships a little earlier of £2.50 compared to the retail price of £18 seem in my opinion, and in that of the ordinary person, to be extremely good value.In this phasing out period the ODA has provided the ELBS with £700,000 for books subsidies and an additional £66,000 for administration, which is approximately 50 per cent. of the ELBS budget of £1.5 million for the 1994-95 budget year. I understand that stocks of most ELBS titles are either exhausted or shortly will be. Can the Minister be more specific this evening as to the replacement scheme for the phased-out ELBS? Further, can the noble Baroness clarify whether the World Bank low income countries, which have over the years been receiving ELBS tertiary level textbooks, will continue to receive such books? Alternatively, will those books be targeted only to the so-called "poorest" students. If so, how will the poorest students be selected? How will the books be provided more specifically to outreach students, such as nursing students in rural hospitals, who have no access to large libraries?
Finally, as we are nearing the so-called "D-day" when the ELBS will be phased out, can the Minister say whether any new arrangements have been developed and, if so, are they ready to be implemented on 1st April of next year? I trust, in the words of the closing comments of the noble Lord, Lord Thomson of Monifieth, in his debate last year, that the phasing out of the ELBS will not be a disguised cut in educational book aid.
7.22 p.m.
Lord Soulsby of Swaffham Prior: My Lords, the House will be grateful to the noble Lord, Lord St. John of Bletso, for tabling this Unstarred Question, particularly because many noble Lords very much wish to know the progress being made towards the replacement of the ELBS which was announced in 1995 by my noble friend the Minister. It would be fair to say that many of us, including myself, all of whom very much admire the work carried out by the ODA, viewed that decision with alarm. We did so because of our experience in many instances of the great value of the ELBS in the developing world. Perhaps also we saw yet another erosion of the influence of the United Kingdom in those needy countries.
However, since that debate I have come to appreciate the need for such a review of the concept behind the ELBS. I say that in part because of the quite remarkable advances in the field of information technology in the world and also the equally remarkable developments in the ability of developing countries to make use of this broad range of IT. In some quite remote parts of the world, I have been most surprised at the sophisticated nature of the computer hardware and software that exists and, indeed, the great enthusiasm that there is for it in those distant parts of the world.
To my mind it is probably more logical to think in terms of a range of offerings under the concept of the ELBS rather than simply in terms of books alone.
I would certainly agree that there is always a place for the ELBS, as has been mentioned by the noble Lord, in areas where for example, nurses and animal technologists out in the bush can only rely on books, not on any other means of communication. Nevertheless, there is a wide range of possibilities which could be considered.As I believe we all know, another increasing problem is that the type of textbooks which would normally be designated under the ELBS are becoming fewer in number. One of the reasons is that they are now being published electronically. Indeed, many scientific journals are published in that way. While that is quite suitable for the western world, such publications may not be readily available in third world countries. Therefore, if we took on board the concept not only of books but also of electronic information, we could view the future provision of information (for which the ELBS scheme was set up many years ago) with more optimism and achieve much more. It is my understanding that a pilot programme using ODA funds has been set up in Ghana which comprises an electronic network. It is to be hoped that that will prove to be successful and encourage the expansion of the system.
An area where I see a particular need, if we want to move into the field of electronic communications for educational purposes, is in the provision of short-term scholarships for individuals from the developing world for, say, three months. That would enable them to come to this country to receive instruction and training in the use of information technology. They could then return to their native countries and instruct others.
While I was somewhat disappointed and concerned originally at the demise of the ELBS, I now believe that there is a new range of opportunities available based on the rapid evolution of information technology, some of which could probably be made more amenable to different areas of the world. It could provide an effective provision of textbooks--though, having been part of the ELBS and having had the honour of having some of my textbooks designated as such, I must admit that it will come hard to see the demise of a scheme which has for so long done so much good in the developing world.
7.28 p.m.
Baroness David: My Lords, I am extremely glad that the noble Lord, Lord St. John of Bletso, has tabled this Question tonight. It seems to me to be high time that we had some statement from the noble Baroness, as it is over 18 months since we had the last debate on the subject on 17th May 1995. The Minister made some firm commitments at that time which, so far as I can see, have not been kept. Her department had announced the phasing out of the scheme in the spring of that year. I shall now give your Lordships some quotations from columns 655 to 660 of Hansard of what the Minister said in that debate:
- "We have said that it will be phased out in two years because we want to replace it with something better. We believe it essential that we do the very best for the students, particularly those poor students who cannot afford books".
- "My concern is the students and that those students will turn to the UK when they are qualified and will bring trade for the UK in the longer term".
- "The scheme has had a fine reputation. No one disputes that. Over the years it has had some notable successes".
- "my aim... is to replace ELBS with something better... The aim is to develop well before the old scheme ceases in two years' time new arrangements that will fulfil the objectives to which we are committed".
The Minister also mentioned information technology. The noble Lord, Lord Soulsby, has just referred to that. It seems to me odd that if that really is a proper proposal, the ODA has not let us hear what it is. I am sure my noble friend Lord Peston will deal with the point because I am not so well-informed about information technology. However, I should have thought it was quite difficult to reach the distant parts of some of those countries in that way. They would need electricity and rather sophisticated equipment. However, if the Minister thinks the scheme will work, I hope that she will give us a clear description of how it is to be made to work. As I say, I am a little sceptical about that, but as the noble Lord, Lord Soulsby, was so keen on that scheme I hope it will be followed up. I believe the Minister said in the debate in 1995 that whole textbooks and encyclopaedias were being made available on CD-ROM. However, will these people have the necessary equipment to receive them?
I feel that we have been let down. What has happened since that day in May last year? The ODA set up a Books and Information Working Group, chaired by Myra Harrison, its chief education adviser, to consider alternative arrangements that might replace ELBS. The group met for the second and last time on 22nd February this year. A further meeting was to be called in April and then September, but despite inquiries no call for a third meeting has been forthcoming. The 22nd February meeting proposed that pilot projects should be set up to test the feasibility of the respective replacement schemes: the voucher scheme, the book presentation scheme, etc. Not one of those pilot schemes, so far as I know, has ever got off the ground.
It was also proposed that a bibliography of low priced textbooks should be compiled. The ODA commissioned John Smith and Sons to carry out the work, although I understand that this has proved a far more difficult task than the latter anticipated. However, the bibliography was never presented as other than a useful aid and certainly not as the main plank of the Minister's programme for replacing ELBS.
The noble Lord, Lord St. John of Bletso, referred to the Written Answer to a Question I tabled in July this year. After referring to the bibliography that had been commissioned, the Minister stated:
- "We shall continue to examine various methods of getting books to needy students, which will enable us to target books and information provision more effectively than under the former Educational Low-Priced Books Scheme. We shall consult further with publishers and other interested parties through the ODA-convened Books Working Group".--[Official Report, 17/7/96; col. WA 62.]
I suspect that if the ODA would seriously consider creating a scheme to deliver low priced or free books to the poorest students in any significant numbers, it would discover--perhaps it has discovered--that the most cost-effective way of doing so is the scheme currently being dismantled.
I have seen a copy of a dissertation for an MA degree at Loughborough University submitted by Emily Kogos, who was librarian at Moi University, Kenya, and who had direct experience of ELBS as she was herself a Kenyan student who had made use of books provided by ELBS. I wish to quote a few phrases from her dissertation. She writes:
- "Getting new editions of books at a lower cost has made ELBS invaluable to students especially at the post-secondary school level of education in Kenya. In the absence of such subsidised books, some bookshops such as the Text Book Centre...would order older editions of standard paper back books so that the prices could be within the reach of their customers".
- "However, the research carried out in respect of Kenya shows that ELBS books actually played the role of supplying cheap text books to university students. The students come from differing backgrounds with different purchasing capabilities. The majority though come from families that need external assistance to be able to pay the fees as required in the era of cost-sharing...Research done in Kenya showed that ELBS books reach the targeted groups...Books still provide the basic tools of learning in developing countries...Following the decision by the ODA to withdraw the scheme and to phase it out completely by 1997, there was an outcry from ELBS users with hundreds of letters being sent by students, librarians and booksellers. The general feeling conveyed was that the ELBS scheme had been invaluable in helping provide the much needed cheaper priced books, as well as keeping up with the latest book editions. Most letters expressed fears that the book market at the tertiary level in the affected countries would suffer considerably and that academic standards would be affected as students find it even more difficult to buy books...In line with the original objective of the scheme, ELBS books were availed to the tertiary market in Kenya at prices within the means of most students. The research showed that the main beneficiaries of the scheme were students...ELBS played a major role in the supply of affordable text books for higher education institutions in Kenya...The ELBS book scheme provided a stimulus for students in tertiary institutions in Kenya to own books. The withdrawal of the scheme therefore brings with it the repercussions of loss of purchasing power especially in the areas of Science, Engineering and Medicine. Students taking these subjects will be forced to buy fewer books or resort to the bad practice of mutilating library books to survive".
One of the supervisors connected with this dissertation, Mr. Sumsion, is probably known to the noble Baroness as he is the distinguished and respected director of the Library and Information Statistics Unit.
In April next year, if nothing is done, there will be no books for the students to buy. From what she has said in the past I am sure that the noble Baroness is sympathetic to the needs of students in the poorer countries of the world. To think that they will be
deprived of help to get a proper education and proper qualifications is to me extremely distressing. I hope that even at this last minute--we are very close to March 1997 now--the Minister will reconsider what has happened and come up tonight with some firm proposal that will help these students.7.38 p.m.
Lord Walton of Detchant: My Lords, I, too, am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord St. John, for tabling this Unstarred Question leading to this interesting and important debate. When I tabled a Starred Question in this House on 2nd May 1995, I felt it right to declare an interest because, like the noble Lord, Lord Soulsby, two textbooks on medicine which I had written had previously been included in the scheme, but have not been included for some years.
Subsequently, in correspondence with myself, the Minister was kind enough to say that she had every intention of making certain that the ODA would come up with something better than ELBS. She repeated that assertion in the reply to the Unstarred Question in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Thomson of Monifieth, a short while afterwards. As the noble Lord, Lord St. John, has said, this scheme has been in existence for over 35 years. Two years ago the grant from the ODA to support the scheme was £1.5 million. In 1994-95 it fell to £1.3 million. As the noble Lord, Lord St. John, has said, this year it has fallen to £766,000, or 0.08 per cent. of the ODA budget. It is true that the textbooks included in the scheme have been for tertiary level business education, engineering and technology, law, medicine and science, including social, agricultural and veterinary sciences. The books have been sold in 54 developing countries in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and in Oceania.
The noble Lord, Lord Soulsby, is right. We are seeing a revolution in information technology, in electronic publishing, which is likely progressively to replace some textbooks in many circumstances. Some of the publishers who have had books included in the ELB scheme in the past are in the van of this electronic publishing revolution. Why would it not be possible for their electronic products, where appropriate, to be included in such a scheme in the future in those countries where the facility is available to make use of such IT material? Nevertheless, as a teacher in universities for many years, I still believe that one of the most important of all teaching aids is, and will continue to be for many years to come, a book.
In answer to the debate, the noble Baroness said that the ODA review was concerned with targeting a replacement scheme at the poorest students, in particular in countries with very low or low income. It is true that certain countries--I refer, for example, to Singapore and Hong Kong--where the electronic revolution has gone ahead apace were originally included in the scheme. Perhaps Hong Kong was included for political reasons. Surely it is not beyond the wit of man and of the ODA to exclude from such a scheme those countries, some 22 in all, which are richer, for which, as the scheme has materialised and matured, such targeting is no longer appropriate.
Like the noble Baroness, Lady David, I have read with great interest the paper by Emily Kogos from Kenya. It made abundantly clear that students in the university where she was librarian have been wholly dependent on the books published under the ELB scheme. Like the noble Baroness, I have seen masses of letters to the Publishers Association and other organisations from students in Nigeria, Uganda, Malawi and other parts of Africa, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. It surely cannot be the case, as has been implied in certain correspondence, that the ODA believes that tertiary education in such countries is elitist. Such tertiary education will produce in the future the teachers in all disciplines in those countries; and they need the support of the scheme.
I do not believe that we can or should underestimate the crucial importance of British influence in the education of those students in developing countries. From my experience in British universities, and my chairmanship of the Sub-Committee of the Science and Technology Committee of your Lordships' House looking at the international investment in UK science, I know how greatly British education and British textbooks have influenced the work in many developing countries. It has ultimately been responsible for a good deal of inward investment from those countries, and individuals educated by British books and learning have ultimately made contributions.
The great virtue of the ELB scheme has been the rigorous selection of books, controlled local prices, the absence of pirating and the low distribution costs. Surely it is not out of the question that of the 54 countries originally included, the 22 which are now regarded as too rich should be discarded. The suggestion has been made that some of the books have been purchased by professional visitors to developing countries for personal use. That must be only a minimal problem. The textbooks in the scheme have not been advanced level textbooks but textbooks for use by undergraduate students.
Is it right that ODA believes that tertiary education is elitist? The chief education adviser to ODA said in correspondence with the ELBS administrator and others that the continuation of ELBS, even if modified, was not an option. Why ever not? It seems to me extraordinary that that should not have been considered.
The working group established by the ODA saw an excellent and detailed paper produced by Eileen Gillow. However, that paper, consisting of many pages with a carefully marshalled set of arguments, was not discussed by the working group. It was told that it must consider only alternatives to the ELBS and not a modification of the scheme. In view of the fact that the scheme will run out by the end of March next year--that is only three months from now--it is important to ask what the ODA proposes to put in its place. Will it be a scheme which will help tertiary level education by the provision not just of books but of electronic and IT material for countries which can use them? What will be the unit costs? What will be the administrative arrangements? What will be the total resources provided? As a result, will students in poorer countries have better access to teaching level books than the ELBS provided? Many of
us are doubtful that that will be the case. Will the new arrangements have been developed, fully assessed, evaluated and in place by 1st April?Many of us believe that any scheme proposed by the ODA will not effectively replace the ELBS, which has done so much to use British textbooks for the education of students in developing countries. I hope that the noble Baroness will reassure us to the contrary. Many of us believe that any scheme put in its place will not be better. Some of us have come together with the full support of the Publishers Association to establish an ELBS replacement trust because we genuinely believe that the scheme is so important to the future of education overseas that we must replace it with a similar scheme.
7.48 p.m.
Viscount Waverley: My Lords, the principle of distributing textbooks to those who in normal circumstances would be unable to receive them is commendable. It plays an important part in alleviating poverty by attacking illiteracy, which in turn creates the future professional and trading culture. It can also assist with teaching in agricultural and engineering matters, addressing practical issues. To that end, I am grateful to my noble friend for organising the debate.
With that said, and to reiterate my position as regards our last debate, I have long suspected that the ELB system was flawed. This is as much to do with direct publishing and distribution issues as with the age in which we live, of across-the-board, Treasury-led cuts. It is inevitable that some schemes had to go.
I have never been entirely clear who were the main beneficiaries under the existing scheme--the UK book industry, either through the contribution to administrative costs or by the resulting ability to retain an agent who could then service other forms of book orders, or those people in the country of destination who in many cases, I suspect, could afford the title anyway.
Additionally, bookshops around the developing world certainly cannot be relied upon to hold price structures that reflect the ELBS principles. That point cannot be denied. Retailers have to achieve, or strive to achieve, a certain percentage on turnover and hike prices in local currency to offset inflation and currency fluctuations, often over official rates. Only intensive and accurate agent scrutiny would resolve that. From a central bank perspective, scarce foreign currency is also used. Possibly the death knell of ELBS is even due to the complicated computations used in the UK. I do accept one point, however: local printing, as an alternative, other than in larger markets with a reduced book list, is probably not the answer.
I also accept that my concerns could be argued in other ways, but, regrettably, it appears that funds for ELBS do not seem to be available. But does not the ODA commit to substantial assistance in other book-related aid? Perhaps the Minister could tell us more about that.
However, we are where we are. What are we going to do about it? I have given some thought to how to resolve this. I was certainly impressed with the IT
proposals. Hard copy is an expensive commodity, and it might be that IT is the answer. I would want all my previous concerns addressed, and those of publishers, while at the same time giving the recipients a speedy, effective, wide range of titles which can be paid for in local currencies, even at a cheaper cost than that at which they obtain ELBS titles currently.This is what I came up with. A core catalogued list of titles covering subjects appropriate to developmental needs should be created from a wide range of publishers, with order-taking facilities set up in each university town in targeted countries. It would be quite simple to identify likely candidates as agents, who should have some idea of the publishing world--although that is not necessarily essential. Pre-paid orders would be submitted weekly via a UK central point for dissemination and execution. Orders would be consolidated for a weekly or bi-weekly air-freight service for customs clearance and local distribution. Because of the appalling nature of many overseas internal postal services, orders could be collected by the client or hand-delivered.
Advantages to all this would be that expensive intermediaries would be cut out and there would be stricter control on prices and quality of service. In other words, everybody would get what they want.
The noble Baroness, Lady David, was right to remind us that only three months remain until the official end of ELBS.
Finally, it being that time of year, it behoves me to wish the Minister bon voyage for tomorrow and her well-earned holiday.
7.53 p.m.
Lord Thomson of Monifieth: My Lords, I listened with great care to the noble Viscount, Lord Waverley. When he said that his proposals would give everybody what they wanted, I began to feel a little doubt as to whether the Waverley plan would be any better than the existing situation.
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