Schools 'cannot afford to buy textbooks'

MOST SCHOOLS cannot afford to buy science, mathematics, history and English textbooks for their children's homework, according to a report published yesterday, writes Judith Judd. Many parents have to buy GCSE set texts for their children.

Because of the book shortage, pupils work mostly from photo-copied extracts, says the report from the Book Trust, a charity which promotes reading.

It says a 'book-starved generation' has been created and urges ministers to set up a working party to lay down minimum standards for spending on books.

Its investigation, funded by the British Library and the Educational Publishers' Council, found that, though reading is an important part of life in primary schools, it is neglected in secondary schools.

Because of the prevalence of worksheets 'there is little evidence that pupils are learning how to find information by skimming or scanning a text'.