It is the latest development in a long-running dispute over the bundling of teaching aids – such as manuals and CD-ROMs – with textbooks, which parents and the government say is pushing up prices.
Last year, the Education Bureau imposed a ban on publishers giving schools “free” teaching materials while adding their cost to the prices students paid for the corresponding textbooks.
But on Monday, Suen said schools should get free basic manuals for teachers in an effort to “streamline” the policy, though they not accept free CDs, statistical databases or practice exam questions, which were more expensive.