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Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
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Textbooks and School Library : Provision in Secondary Education in Sub-Saharan AfricaThis 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.
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Textbook Development in Low Income Countries : A Guide for Policy and PracticeSince 2003, over 220 million books have
 been distributed in primary schools in global partnership
 for education (GPE) countries. Despite this, a few years
 ago, a World Bank study highlighted the fact that there
 simply aren't enough textbooks for most students in
 Africa, and what is available is too expensive. The main
 objective of the this course is to equip anyone in a
 position to advise, administer, or design a book provision
 project with the necessary knowledge in order to make the
 appropriate input and right decisions. The focus throughout
 is on how to get affordable books to school children when
 and where needed. It is designed to be a practical resource
 that covers the key issues encountered in textbook
 provision, ranging from authorship through national
 publishing infrastructure to pricing, and distribution. The
 course is organized in 12 modules under four sections:
 understanding the textbook industry; book acquisition
 strategies; distribution strategies; and policy and
 practice. It provides functional knowledge of the workings
 of the book industry and its role in supporting learning and
 education. This will include detailed study of the work that
 publishers, printers, and distributors do. It also focuses
 on how the book industry costs books and the methods and
 trade-offs governments have to make in financing textbooks
 and supplementary readers.
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Education Inputs In Uganda : An Analysis of Factors Influencing Learning Achievement in Grade SixThis study on effective use of school inputs in Uganda is intended to contribute to the policy debate on how to make the best use of available resources to improve learning outcomes. It comes at an opportune time in Uganda when there are increasing demands on the education budget, yet it is unlikely that substantial increases in the sector budget envelope will be provided given other competing national priorities, as well as the need for additional resources to finance post primary education and training. This report emphasizes: the need for a balanced focus on resource availability and use, because without appropriate use or management, resources may not lead to improved learning; helping teachers to effectively teach large classes; and the importance of investing more in in-service training focused on pedagogical practices than on training teachers to acquire academic qualifications. The study also points to the need to examine and include teacher effectiveness as key criteria for determining teacher remuneration. With regard to automatic promotion, this study, and indeed the general literature suggest that repetition tends not to work within the same context and the same teaching styles. The findings of this study clearly demonstrate the need to focus on school and classroom processes and better use of education resources focused on improvement of learning.