Publishing houses printing auxiliary school books earn around EUR 100 million a year only from these books, education minister Liviu Pop said in an interview on Friday. He called them the “textbooks’ lords”.

The minister also suggested that it’s not clear if these publishing houses pay taxes, or if auxiliaries actually generate gray cash.

Auxiliaries refer to the exercise books used by schools in addition to the main text books.

The minister recently banned the use of auxiliaries, only to change his mind a bit later. On Friday, he said that some of these auxiliaries would be used, but only with the Education Ministry’s approval.

Pop explained that publishing houses were printing low-quality school books on purpose, so that children would also buy auxiliaries, reports local Digi24. Textbooks’ lords earn “colossal fortunes”, while children suffer and the state doesn’t collect taxes, the minister said.

Liviu Pop also said earlier this year that private publishing houses would no longer be allowed to print school books. The state-owned publisher Editura Didactica si Pedagogica (Didactic and Pedagogical Publishing House) will instead hold the monopoly on printing school books.

Bucharest event asks for Education Minister resignation, collects books for schools

editor@romania-insider.com

(photo source: Ministerul Educației Naționale-România on Facebook)