<<Print>>

Classrooms in the over 12,000 public schools in Ghana re-opened this academic year without a single approved textbook in all subject areas. The Ghana Education Service had announced in April, 2019 the roll-out of a new standard based curriculum for kindergarten to primary six pupils in Ghana in September. Concerned parents and the general public were left bemused and puzzled but powerless to do anything about the situation. Public school heads and teachers sounded confused but mute, careful not to appear to “rock the boat” for fear of being victimized.

The official response about the lack of textbooks from GES/MoE was strident and assured, countering the public criticisms from political opponents whilst trying hard to allay the fears of a concerned public.

According to the MoE/GES, the implementation of a new curriculum (syllabus) had never coincided with the introduction of new textbooks in classrooms. To compensate for the anticipated lack of textbooks in the classrooms, NaCCA produced a Teacher Resource Packs and distributed over 150,000 plus copies to all basic school teachers. The impact and importance of textbooks use in classrooms, according to the MoE/GES was also overrated, because textbooks are “reference” materials and not “used for teaching”.

Many have disagreed with the assurances from officialdom with opposing views.

As NaCCA has repeatedly pointed out, textbooks written for the outcome-based curriculum are fundamentally different from standard based curriculum textbooks. The old textbooks could therefore not be used as in the past during the transitional period because they were simply unsuitable. Every effort should therefore have been made to synchronize the implementation with the development of the new textbooks. So, although it was factual that the implementation of a new curriculum in the past did not take place with new textbooks, the situation confronting us is radically different and the implementation could have been planned to make sure there were corresponding textbooks.

Questions have also been raised about the training of the teachers and the quality of the Teacher Resources Packs supplied. It is important that this is looked into as we examine critically the implementation challenges of the curriculum roll-out.

Of greater importance though is the attempts made to downplay the importance of textbooks in the education delivery system at the basic level. The 2016 Global Education Monitoring Report, Policy Paper 23, makes a strong case why “Every Child Should Have a Textbook” and why the amount a country spends on learning materials is a good indicator of its commitment to providing a quality education for all. The evidence confirming the critical role of textbooks in improving student learning achievements is without dispute. Though there is no single “magic bullet” that will solve a countries educational problems, there is clear evidence that access to textbooks is an important part of the solution. Textbooks play a crucial part in overcoming some of the broader structural deficits to teaching and learning. This is why the comments emanating from the GES/MoE about the importance of textbooks have been baffling.

 

Textbooks do matter. This is what informed the development of the Textbook Development and Distribution Policy (TDDP) of the Ministry of Education, before the country had a definitive National Book Policy. The (TDDP) sought to “to ensure the development, selection and provision of good quality textbooks, teachers’ guides, and supplementary reading books that will promote effective teaching and learning in schools. ”It was the blueprint to regulate the textbook production process in Ghana and outlined the need of the MoE to effectively collaborate with book industry players to ensure that quality textbooks get to schools in sufficient quantities at the right time.

The initial implementation in 2004, yielded some very significant outcomes.

·        The timely development and supply of a great variety quality textbooks by local publishers to schools,

·        The government divesting itself from textbook development thereby actively promoting the creation of a vibrant book industry that contributes to the GDP of our economy.

Like all policies, there were challenges, unfortunately, there were no serious stakeholder reviews to resolve them. The current status of the TDDP in the making of key decisions relating to textbook delivery and procurement is therefore not certain, but depends on the importance successive leaders ascribes to it, creating a great deal of uncertainty. This may be a contributory factor in the lack of textbooks in classrooms at the start of the academic year. As long as the TDDP is regarded merely as “a policy”, the MoE can choose to disregard key objectives in the implementation or subjectively apply only certain portions.

Without an Act to back the Policy there will continue to be a lack of clarity how the education sector hopes to deliver textbooks, one of its core levers in education in a timely manner. In other words, the availability of a TDDP backed by law would have anticipated the major lapse we are currently grappling with and provided guidelines to avoid it.

It must be noted that through the support of the BUSAC Fund there have been series of advocacy actions on the need for the TDDP backed by law. Though government has shown some commitment towards acceding to the demands of industry players, without codifying these positive overtures into law, any successive government could single-handedly reverse this process. A survey conducted by the GBPA (2017), estimated that over $500 million plus may have been spent on textbook procurement by government since 2004. The sheer volume and amount involved makes a strong case for some legal framework to regulate textbook development and procurement.

The book industry proposes a review and enactment of the Ghana Textbook Development and Distribution policy into an Act of Parliament with clear legally enforceable under-takings for the industry to invoke in the event of a unilateral abrogation or breach. This is the only way to ensure that quality textbooks are made available in sufficient quantities at the right time to promote effective teaching and learning in Ghana.