Bautzen's city council approves a Europe-wide tender for school books

Bautzen's city council approves a Europe-wide tender for school books

At its last meeting in September, the Bautzen city council decided on a significant step in the procurement of school materials. The Europe-wide tender for textbooks, workbooks and other printed materials for municipal schools was unanimously accepted. This is intended to ensure that students are provided with the teaching materials they need for the school years 2026/27 to 2029/30. This reports Sächsische.de.

The reason for the Europe-wide tender is that the legal threshold for deliveries and services of 221,000 euros is exceeded. The head of the Office for Education and Social Affairs, Thomas Groß, explained that this measure was not only legally necessary, but also important for the education of the students. The tender is divided into three lots: one for elementary schools and support centers, a second for high schools and a third for high schools. Applicants have the opportunity to apply for individual, multiple or all lots.

A notable point in this process is that a previous rule that prohibited a bidder from winning all three tickets has been removed. This happened due to a lack of legal basis for such a restriction. The city also wants to ensure that regional bookstores also have a good chance of winning the order.

Price fixation and award criteria

An interesting detail regarding the allocation is that school books in Germany are price-controlled. This means that the price does not play a role in the award. The evaluation of the offers is based 70 percent on the technical consulting services and 30 percent on the processing time of repeat and individual orders. This is particularly important because textbook contracts are usually advertised publicly and offer little scope for price competition, as shown on boersenverein.de was also determined.

The discussion about purchasing books was lively. A proposal from CDU city councilor Monika Vetter to give schools the decision about their book procurement was rejected. Thomas Groß made it clear that this would entail a lot of administrative effort. Mayor Karsten Vogt (CDU) made it clear that the city's central procurement office ensures relief and legal security.

Legal framework

Procurement law in Germany and Europe, which aims to create competitive conditions and ensure fair conditions for providers, also plays an important role. The procurement law reform of 2016 enables awards to be made without price or cost criteria. This regulation aims to also take qualitative aspects into account in the tender, such as: mwvlw.rlp.de is explained.

Local school authorities in particular must pay attention to fixed book prices in the textbook business. Publicly advertised orders for price-linked books that have a net value of up to 10,000 euros can be awarded directly. This is particularly beneficial for smaller schools that may not have the same resources as larger institutions.

In this context, it is significant that in Germany school books are on loan for eight to ten years on average. Due to the legal freedom of teaching materials in Saxony, which also applies in four other federal states, school authorities remain responsible for providing textbooks and supplementary materials free of charge.

With this call for proposals, Bautzen shows that it is setting a good example and taking the education of future generations seriously. It remains to be seen which providers will seek the contracts and how this process will influence school supply in the coming years.