To save money textbooks for schoolchildren to be hired in Kyrgyzstan

Almaty. April 21. Silkroadnews – In Kyrgyzstan textbooks for schoolchildren will be hired to save money, KyrTAG reports.

“The pilot project is carried out in 40 schools of Zhayilsky district of the Chui region today. The grade school pupils’ families pay a rent. In case the project is successful, its idea will be proposed for common usage. Annually 120 million som are allocated out of the budget to publish new textbooks. These funds can be used for other educational needs”, Ulanbek Mambetakunov, specialist in the Asian Development Bank project on textbooks under the Ministry of Education and Science, said at the meeting with journalists on Friday.

He noted, the project is aimed to allow parents hiring textbooks rather than spending money on purchase of such books.  

“There are special privileges to be provided as well. For example, if five children from one family attend the same school, for them 100% discount will be used; if there are 3 or 4 pupils attending the same school, for them there will be a 50% discount; orphans will use the textbooks for free”, U. Mambetakunov added.

The officials of the Ministry of Education also noted, the rent price is expected to set at 20 som level. The amount is calculated based on the average cost and time life of textbooks, as well as on the annual increase in the number of pupils, while the project, as a whole, is implemented for the sake of economy.