Textbooks and School Library : Provision in Secondary Education in Sub-Saharan Africa
This study discusses secondary textbook and school library availability in Africa, its cost and financing, and its distribution and publishing. The study objective is to analyze the issues and provide some options and strategies for improvement. Re...
Main Author: | |
---|---|
Format: | Publication |
Language: | English en_US |
Published: |
Washington, DC : World Bank
2012
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2008/01/9015473/textbooks-school-library-provision-secondary-education-sub-saharan-africa http://hdl.handle.net/10986/6356 |
Summary: | This study discusses secondary textbook
and school library availability in Africa, its cost and
financing, and its distribution and publishing. The study
objective is to analyze the issues and provide some options
and strategies for improvement. Reforms are urgently
required in the secondary school systems of most African
countries in order to: (a) reduce the number of textbooks
and reference books required by secondary education
curricula; (b) reduce the unit costs of textbooks; (c)
increase the target book life thus increasing cost
amortization and reducing annual textbook fees/budgets; (d)
increase the financing allocated to textbook provision from
either government or parents and; (e) ensure that curricula
change does not make expensive materials redundant too early
or too often. The conclusion to be drawn is that if a
reliable market exists local publishing can develop to
service it, even in direct competition with multinationals.
The market does not necessarily have to be large. The
critical factor is predictability. If publishers are
confident that funding will be available, from whatever
source, year after year then local publishing will emerge to
serve that market. This is perhaps most clearly demonstrated
in Botswana where a tiny but reliable and reasonably
predictable secondary school sector has five competing
approved textbooks in some secondary subjects. |
---|