Student organizations fear that there will be no competition in the supply of study materials after a major supplier goes bankrupt. Yesterday, parent company The Learning Network, Studystore, and Studers said they were shutting down their operations. Studystore sells books and other educational materials to college and HBO students, Studers to MBO students.
At the beginning of this academic year, Studystore and Studers were having major problems delivering books on time. And these problems continued. “During deliveries in the second half of the year in January it became apparent that the issues were not adequately addressed and management had to decide to cease operations permanently,” the parent company said.
Largest MBO provider
Studers was the largest provider of MBO books. According to JOB MBO, the interest group for MBO students, there’s only one big batch left: MBOwebshop. “The cost of learning materials is high,” says Milan Safy of JOB MBO. “And we fear this will lead to even higher costs for MBO students.”
Representing the interests of university and technical college students, the LSVB shares the same fears about technical college education and course content. “There are hardly any other parties that are allowed to make school books more expensive,” says LSVB’s Joram van Velzen.
He also fears that with the loss of Studystore, other parties will no longer be able to cope with the high demand. “I’m holding my breath for the next academic year. There are hundreds of thousands of books that need to be delivered, which worries me.”
“Enough competition”
So far, MBOwebshop had a market share of around 33 percent. And there’s still enough competition, according to director Jeroen Borgsteede. “Students can and will continue to shop from many places. You can usually buy directly from publishers, there is bol.com and there are many options.”
According to the Learning Network, 26 people will lose their jobs as a result of the two brands being discontinued. Books already ordered will continue to be delivered and customers will be refunded if something is out of stock. The company will continue to be active in the secondary education market.
Source: NOS
Roy Brown is a renowned economist and author at The Nation View. He has a deep understanding of the global economy and its intricacies. He writes about a wide range of economic topics, including monetary policy, fiscal policy, international trade, and labor markets.
