Publishers have been forced to collect textbooks produced for new curricula at the lower levels and take them to the mill, following government’s failure to implement the policy.
President of the Ghana Books Publishers Association (GBPA), Asare Konadu Yamoah, disclosed on Angel FM Wednesday, October 6, 2021, that supplementary text books are being turned into toilet rolls.
He stated that the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA) did not oblige to their proposal to phase out the old curriculum books since there isn’t much difference between the old and new curricula in terms of content.
On the contrary, NaCCA instructed schools not to buy the books produced from the old curriculum which are currently occupying spaces in their warehouses.
In an interview on the Anopa Bofo Morning Show, Mr. Yamoah revealed that “in our bid to empty our warehouses and create space for the new curriculum-based text books, we have sent all those ‘old’ books to the paper mills to be turned into toilet rolls”.
“It has become my debt…As a business person I need the space and the only option available to me is to send the old supplementary text books to the mill for toilet roll production”, he bemoaned.
The President for the Publishers Association noted that with just a few records from some members, the association has incurred a loss of GHS230 million – a high price members had to pay with respect to government’s initiative to launch a new curriculum.
He however, noted that he was hoping the Ghana Education Service or the Ministry of Education would arrange to receive the books and distribute to deprived schools and students within rural areas knowing very well that government is unable to meet a 100% supply of text books to schools.
“There hasn’t been any period that government has successfully met the demand for text books by schools. In 2012 for instance, government could only purchase 67.3% [of books] for the student population”
He added that due to financial constraints in transporting the books to rural areas, the publishers approached government on the matter but failed to get a response.
He disclosed that should any individual or groups reach out to them for the books, they would give out the books for free since they don’t serve any purpose.
