Second hand instead of trash: how school books could live longer

Since this year, pupils and parents have been able to pass on school books that are no longer used via the Upbooking platform. The campaign of the same name was launched by the Ministry of Education last year, and the new online exchange is now intended to make it even easier to pass on books. Since the 2018/2019 school year, compulsory school books in Luxembourg have been free of charge for pupils in general and classic secondary education, vocational training and various international and private secondary schools that follow the public curriculum.

This is actually a positive initiative, as families used to have to pay for all books out of their own pockets, which could easily cost several hundred euros per child per year. The only problem: if you don't pay for something yourself, you run the risk of treating it with less responsibility. And because resale is no longer possible, many books end up in the rubbish bin at the end of the school year – after all, you are entitled to new books the following year. The consequences of free books have already been criticised several times by the National Student Conference (CNEL), as Vice President Semir Honsic explains: "In itself, the fact that the ministry provides compulsory school books free of charge is a positive thing that helps many people financially, and I personally don't know any different. Over time, however, you also realise the downsides of the whole thing, namely that there is a certain excess of books and many are wasted."

Climate awareness at school too

While in the past books were often passed on from older siblings to younger ones or pupils sold them on at second-hand markets, there is now a lack of awareness and this needs to be worked on. Although there are no statistics, if books do not appear on online platforms or at second-hand markets, this means that they are either gathering dust in a box somewhere or are simply thrown away. The student committee is therefore in favour of a different distribution method that would give books that are still in good condition and could still be used a second chance. "Instead of making people collect the books from bookshops, the school should distribute them at the beginning of the year and collect them again at the end. If 40 out of 100 books are still usable, fewer of them need to be reprinted, which would save our resources, " says Honsic. It's all about sustainability, because it has to be taken into account in all aspects of our lives, including at school, emphasises the 19-year-old.

CNEL has already held several discussions on this and other climate-related topics with the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Environment and the responsible SCRIPT (Coordination Centre for Research and Innovation in Education and Technology) and has written a long report, which is, however, only rarely taken into account in political decisions. "We are of course pleased about the upbooking campaign and also think that the platform will be used, but this use is based on the principle of voluntariness. Only those who want to can pass on their books via the platform and most people are comfortable, so many won't go to the trouble, " says Honsic.