Govt addresses book shortage

EDUCATION officials have drawn up a two-pronged plan to address the chronic shortage of textbooks in Namibian schools.

Speaking at the hand-over of 17 000 books by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) at Okahandja this week, Deputy Education Minister Becky Ndjoze-Ojo said the number of textbooks was “seriously low” in primary schools. In key areas like language, maths and science, three pupils have to share one textbook, while in senior school one book is shared between two pupils, she said.”Because the supply of textbooks is low, it is not unusual in schools to have one set of textbooks in one subject area shared by all classes at a particular level,” she said, adding this practice did not allow pupils take books home to study.Books could also not be taken home at the end of the year either, as these were issued to classes on a rotational basis.”This system denies learners, especially from those homes where print materials are rare, the potential for encouraging a reading culture at home,” she said.To address this problem, the Ministry has drawn up a plan for textbooks and teaching materials and strengthening school libraries and teacher resource centres.It would first conduct a baseline study on the current state of textbooks and materials, develop a policy on how these would be developed, adopted and implemented and strengthen public and private partnerships to stimulate Namibia’s publishing sector.Next all school, college and teacher resource centre libraries would be upgraded, a study undertaken on the current provision of books, books would be provided where there are gaps and emphasis would be placed on classroom libraries while education officials considered alternative ways of acquiring textbooks.Thanking USAID for the donation through the International Book Bank (IBB), the Deputy Minister urged teacher resource centre managers to make the books available to all.Since last year, the US government has assisted by providing 49 000 books.In his remarks, USAID mission director Gary Newton said assistance from the United States to Namibia was increasing.”Assistance from USAID to Namibia has more than doubled in the past four years from N$70 million in 2002, to N$178 million in 2005.And we expect a further increase this year to N$186 million,” he said.In key areas like language, maths and science, three pupils have to share one textbook, while in senior school one book is shared between two pupils, she said.”Because the supply of textbooks is low, it is not unusual in schools to have one set of textbooks in one subject area shared by all classes at a particular level,” she said, adding this practice did not allow pupils take books home to study.Books could also not be taken home at the end of the year either, as these were issued to classes on a rotational basis.”This system denies learners, especially from those homes where print materials are rare, the potential for encouraging a reading culture at home,” she said.To address this problem, the Ministry has drawn up a plan for textbooks and teaching materials and strengthening school libraries and teacher resource centres.It would first conduct a baseline study on the current state of textbooks and materials, develop a policy on how these would be developed, adopted and implemented and strengthen public and private partnerships to stimulate Namibia’s publishing sector.Next all school, college and teacher resource centre libraries would be upgraded, a study undertaken on the current provision of books, books would be provided where there are gaps and emphasis would be placed on classroom libraries while education officials considered alternative ways of acquiring textbooks.Thanking USAID for the donation through the International Book Bank (IBB), the Deputy Minister urged teacher resource centre managers to make the books available to all.Since last year, the US government has assisted by providing 49 000 books.In his remarks, USAID mission director Gary Newton said assistance from the United States to Namibia was increasing.”Assistance from USAID to Namibia has more than doubled in the past four years from N$70 million in 2002, to N$178 million in 2005.And we expect a further increase this year to N$186 million,” he said.