Picture 1 of 1 - The CNEC Lau Wing Sang Secondary School, which has ordered books through the Seiko Printing Bookstore for many times over the past 10 years, was scheduled to arrange for Grade 6 parents and students to pick up their books on 30th of last month. However, on the day of the bookstore's delivery, the school still could not provide all the books, and the textbooks of various subjects were not classified at the scene, which was described by the school principal, Mr Mui Chi-yip (the second from right, in the front row), as a "catastrophic" mess, so he led the staff to help on the spot, and then took another three days to deal with the situation, and at the same time, employed the help of the school alumni. (Courtesy of the interviewee)

[Ming Pao Newspaper] The Seiko Bookstore, which provides textbook ordering services to about 30 primary and secondary schools, was affected by internal personnel changes and the shortened summer holidays, resulting in delays in the delivery of textbooks and confusion. The CNEC Lau Wing Sang Secondary School principle Mui Chi Yip told this newspaper that the bookstore had received parents' book orders and book purchases in early August, and arranged for parents to return to school at the end of August to pick up their books, but the bookseller delivered only a few boards of textbooks to the school on the day of the delivery, and they were incomplete, and the school principal led a number of staff to assist in the sorting of textbooks, and employed about 20 alumni to spend an additional three days to deal with the 6:00 pm and 9:00 pm, "(the bookseller) wrong list, omitted single It was a very confusing mix of errors and omissions". He estimated that about 500 students at the school were affected.

CNEC Lau Wing Sang Secondary School was scheduled to arrange for S1 to S6 students to return to school on 30 August to collect textbooks in different time slots. On that morning, the bookseller arrived at the school with "a board of unclassified textbooks", and three to four staff members from the bookseller took several hours to complete the distribution of textbooks for the first level. The school stopped the return of the remaining five levels to the school in view of this situation, and the headmaster and staff members assisted in the delivery of textbooks at the same time. The principal and teaching staff assisted in the delivery of textbooks, and then arranged for parents to return to school on 1 and 2 September to collect the books.

Adjustment of strategy and temporary switch to e-learning materials

Mui said the school had been using Seiko Printing Bookstore to order textbooks for more than 10 years through a tendering process, and there had been no similar problems. He learnt of recent staffing problems at the bookstore, but described the chaos as "catastrophic" and "unimaginable". Based on the spirit of contract, he said the school did not intend to appeal to parents for refunds or to "fight for books" on their own, and he did not know if there was an adequate supply of textbooks in the market. However, as teaching had been affected and students at all levels did not have all the textbooks they needed, the school would have to adjust its strategy, including printing their own notebooks and switching to e-learning materials for the time being. He will further request the person-in-charge of the bookstore to come to the school for a meeting to discuss the future strategy and follow up on the issues of missing orders, books in arrears and replacement of textbooks.