Parents crowd bookstores before school starts, but many leave without textbooks

Parents crowded an education publisher’s office in central Đà Nẵng on Sept. 4, searching through textbooks laid out on the floor just one day before the school year began. Many left empty-handed.

The office of Đà Nẵng Education Investment and Development JSC, part of Vietnam Education Publishing House, is not a retail bookstore. Parents came after hearing that the office had gathered a limited number of books for the final rush. At times, staff temporarily closed the office when the crowd became too large.

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We are quite worried. I visited more than 20 bookstores, and only yesterday managed to buy one more book. We are still missing two books on physical education and handwriting.

Trần Cảnh Hưng, from Hải Châu district, brought his third-grade son to look for two missing books in physical education and handwriting. Hưng said he had visited more than 20 bookstores and bought only one additional book the previous day. A teacher sent parents digital files so they could print the missing books, but the family preferred printed copies because of concerns about print quality. If necessary, Hưng said, they would print the books in color so his son would not start school without them.

Other parents said they were missing books for 10th grade, including one parent who had not expected textbooks to be so difficult to find and had waited until shortly before the new school year. Staff recorded the titles families still needed and their phone numbers. A manager said the organization had collected books from several provinces at cover prices and paid transport and collection costs to bring them to Đà Nẵng, but could not yet determine when more books would arrive.

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If we cannot find them, we will probably have to print them in color, because my son cannot study without books.