Textbooks and school library provision in secondary education in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

World Bank.

Series:

Africa Region human development series

World Bank working paper ; no. 126.

World Bank working paper ; no. 126

Africa human development series

Language:

English

French

Subjects (All):

Textbooks--Africa, Sub-Saharan.

Textbooks.

High school libraries--Africa, Sub-Saharan.

High school libraries.

Sub-Saharan Africa.

Physical Description:

xxxii, 98 pages ; 26 cm.

Place of Publication:

Washington, D.C. : World Bank, [2008]

Summary:

Textbooks and School Library Provision in Secondary Education in Sub-Saharan Africa is part of the World Bank Working Paper series. These papers are published to communicate the results of the Bank's ongoing research and to stimulate public discussion.

This study is based on research on secondary textbook and school library provision in Botswana, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Togo, as well as existing recent country reports on textbook provision and an extensive desk research. Considerable variations exist in Sub-Saharan African textbook requirements needed to meet secondary curriculum specifications just as significant differences exist between and within countries in regard to the average price of recommended textbooks. Some countries have no approved textbooks list. This study aims to discuss the textbook situation in Sub-Saharan Africa with a special focus on secondary textbook availability, cost and financing, distribution and publishing, as well as, the status of school libraries. Its objective is to analyze the issues in secondary textbook and school library provision and to provide some options and strategies for improvement.

Contents:

Introduction: Methodology and Constraints 1

Part I Secondary Textbooks 3

1 Textbook Requirements and Costs in Secondary Education 5

Different Types of Secondary Education 5

Variations in Secondary Textbook Requirements and Costs 5

Average Textbook Prices and the Causes of Variation 9

2 Secondary Textbook Financing 15

Sources of Finance for Secondary Textbooks 15

Producer versus Consumer Funding 16

Principles of Effective Textbook Financing 17

Textbook Cost Reduction Strategies 18

Textbook Rental Schemes and Textbook Revolving Funds 19

The Importance of the Secondhand Textbook Market 23

Piracy and Pamphlets 23

Textbooks as a Percentage of Secondary Education Costs: A Case Study from Lesotho 23

Textbooks as a Percentage of Secondary Education Costs: A Case Study from Uganda 25

Textbook Financing in Francophone Countries 29

3 Secondary Textbooks Availability 31

Textbook Availability in Uganda (2002/03) 31

Textbook Availability in Lesotho (2003) 34

Textbook Availability in Zambia (2002 and 2005) 35

Textbook Availability in Mozambique (2000/2001) 36

Notes on Textbook Availability in Other Countries 37

4 Approved Textbook Lists 43

Approved Secondary Textbook Lists 43

Rationale for Approved Textbook Lists 44

5 Distribution Issues for Secondary Textbooks 47

Current Patterns of Secondary Textbook Distribution 47

Traditional Problems with State Textbook Distribution 47

Re-Creating National Bookseller Networks 54

Current Secondary Textbook Distribution Issues 55

6 Secondary Textbook Authorship and Publishing 59

Secondary School Textbook Publishing in Francophone Africa 59

Secondary School Textbook Publishing in Anglophone Africa 61

Part II Secondary School Libraries 69

7 Secondary School Libraries in Sub-Saharan Africa 71

Secondary School Library Provision 71

Financing Secondary School Libraries 74

Other Characteristics of Secondary School Libraries 74

Linkages to National Library Systems 76

School Library Management 76

Distribution Issues 77

School Library Policy Issues 77

School Library Cost Implications 78

8 Towards an Effective Strategy for Secondary Textbooks and Libraries 81

The Uganda Textbook and School Library Proposal 82

Textbook Rental Schemes 83

Other Forms of Textbook Cost Reductions 85

A Schematic Instructional Materials Budget 89

Secondary School Libraries, Reading Books and Reference Materials 90

Recommendations 91

Annex: Senegal Textbook Committee 93

1 Secondary Textbook Requirements and Costs in Selected Countries 6

2 Average Unit Textbook Costs by Grade Levels in Selected Countries (U.S. dollars) 10

3 Simplified Accounts of a Church School 24

4 Simplified Accounts of a Government of Lesotho (GoL) School 25

5 Purchasing Power of School Textbook Budgets (based on 11 Uganda Schools) 28

6 Textbook Availability in Lesotho Schools (2003) 35

7 Secondary Textbook Distribution Systems in Selected Countries 48

8 Cost of Basic Textbook Provision at One School in Uganda for S1 to S6 (2002) 82

9 National Cost of Basic Textbook Provision for S1 to S6 82

10 Unit Costs per Student of Basic Textbook Provision (including the cost of provision of teachers' copies) 84

11 Cash Flow by Grade Levels in a Schematic Full Textbook Rental Scheme 86

12 Cash Flow Summary of Table 11 for All Grades 88

1 Example of Alternative Page Requirements 79

2 Typical Annual Rental Fee Formula 84.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 97-98).

ISBN:

9780821373446

0821373447

9780821373453

0821373455

OCLC:

173367644