Fake book case: Many schools confiscate books for inspection

Speaking to Thanh Nien on the morning of August 17, Mr. Le Trung Hung, Principal of Be Tong Primary School (Xuan Mai Commune) said that in response to complaints from many parents who suspected the school of distributing fake books, the school immediately asked teachers of grades 3, 4, and 5 to work with parents to check the quality of the products.

Vụ phụ huynh Hà Nội nghi sách giả: Nhiều trường thu lại sách để kiểm tra- Ảnh 1. — Many schools in Xuan Mai commune collect English books to check whether they are real or fake.

"I have requested an immediate re-check. For books whose QR codes cannot be scanned or when scanned, there is a warning that the code is fake, the publisher will be required to exchange the books," said Mr. Hung.

According to Mr. Hung, every year, the school imports textbooks from the Department of Education and Training of Chuong My District. However, this year, the Department of Education and Training of Chuong My District has been dissolved, so it imports books from the Ha Tay Book Publishing Company, with full invoices and documents.

"Because the number of imported books distributed to students is very large, the school cannot check all the books before distributing them to students. In addition, the books have been distributed to students, so the school is contacting parents to check each book in turn. Students cannot study fake books because this will not ensure knowledge and at the same time affect the quality of teaching at the school," said Mr. Hung.

According to Ms. Hoang Thi Thu Huong, homeroom teacher of class 5H (Be Tong Primary School), as of 8:00 a.m. on August 17, after checking, class 5H determined that there were some English books in volume 2 that could not be scratched off the silver layer, making it difficult to scan the QR code on the cover. "Class 5H is continuing to compile statistics to summarize and report to the school leaders," Ms. Huong added.

At Xuan Mai A Secondary School, the school leadership said they had sent out a notice asking parents to bring English books for inspection.

"Since it is currently the weekend, I remind parents to bring books to school on Monday (August 18)," said the leader.

Vụ phụ huynh Hà Nội nghi sách giả: Nhiều trường thu lại sách để kiểm tra- Ảnh 2. — English book for grade 5, volume 2, suspected by parents to be fake

Scan QR code in English book, get fake code warning

As Thanh Nien reported, recently, many parents suspected that Xuan Mai A Primary School, Xuan Mai A Secondary School, and Be Tong Primary School had many fake textbooks distributed for the new school year.

The telltale sign is that the phone cannot scan the QR code printed on the cover, and the book information cannot be retrieved. Meanwhile, when observed with the naked eye, the books issued by the school have different paper material, color, and thickness compared to the textbooks that parents buy outside.

In particular, for the English book for grade 5, volume 2, which had errors, when checking, Ms. Vu Thi Lieu (a parent whose child studies at Be Tong Primary School) discovered that the silver layer at the activation code location could not be scratched off. When scanning the QR code, the phone immediately received a notification that the code was fake and the system prompted "do not buy this book".

For the QR code printed on the back cover of the book, when scanned, a warning message was received saying "this publication was not first authenticated". Instead, the time the first person authenticated this book was in August 2023, even though the book was printed in April 2024.

Based on this feedback, Xuan Mai commune sent staff to verify and requested the school to report on the book distribution. Initially, Xuan Mai commune determined that the books (except English books) could not be accessed when scanning the QR code because the supplier's link was faulty. After the link was restored and repaired, parents were able to scan the QR code normally.

For English books, relevant parties are continuing to check and clarify.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/vu-nghi-sach-gia-nhieu-truong-thu-lai-sach-de-kiem-tra-185250817092309841.htm