By Saheed Ibrahim
|
Governors of the 36 states in Nigeria have been urged to ensure that States’ Ministries of Education adhere to the National Education Research and Development Council (NERDC) policy for primary and secondary schools.
The Nigerian Publishers Association (NPA) gave the advice in a statement issued by the President/Chairman-in-Council of NPA, Dr. Uchenna Cyril Anioke.
According to Anioke, a yearly review of books and educational materials for primary and secondary schools contravenes NERDC policy, which pegged the review of primary school books every six years and three years for secondary schools.
He stressed that constant review of books and educational materials for primary and secondary schools adversely affects the publishers, parents and guardians.
Appealing to Governor Soludo of Anambra State to halt the proposed review of books for schools in the state, which was also done in 2021 and 2022, the NPA Chairman said such an exercise comes with a substantial financial burden to parents and publishers.
“Despite not getting the needed support from the federal and state governments, members of our association toil so hard to shoulder the financial cost of reviewing these academic materials.
“Additionally, with the increasing cost of production of these books, our members submit at least six copies of each title at no cost to the authorities each time a review is to take place. This will amount to a huge amount of money for someone submitting 100 titles, for instance, in an environment where our members enjoy zero incentive,” he concluded.
