The call also coincides with state of the nation speech by President Jacob Zuma this Thursday, where education is expected to get a mention.

Van Schaik's managing director, Stephan Erasmus, said government is doing a lot to fund students through various bursary schemes but often this money is not sufficient and 'what we are calling for is for government to make a direct contribution by zero-rating books'.

He said doing away with VAT would help government meet its objective of prioritising education by making it accessible to more deserving young people. 'Books are expensive to publish and as much as they are an investment in one’s career they are also costly to buy,' said Erasmus.

He said: 'for every free textbook government funds, it [government] receives 14% back in the form VAT. It [if government drops VAT] would mean that 14% more funds would become available for books and resource material purchases.'

Erasmus said they do everything they can to provide a range of stock at a fair price and would discount prices where they could, but 'taking VAT off books would effectively put much needed money back into students' pockets'.

He said other countries have gone this route of relaxing VAT on books and this had opened up many opportunities and improved education levels. The countries that did away with tax on textbooks include Ireland, Norway, Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, Poland and Russia.

People interested in participating in the campaign may visit Van Schaik's Facebook site at: www.vanschaik.com