Prof Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa, director-general of the Ghana Education Service (GES) has charged the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA) to periodically update the public on books that have been approved by their outfit for use.
Speaking to Nana Yaa Mensah on The Asaase Breakfast Show, he explained GES does not have any intention of capping publication of textbooks in the country despite the approval of about 1,107 textbooks by NaCCA.
“There shouldn’t be a limitation, I don’t agree to that and as a publisher myself this is something publishers over the years themselves advocated for and somewhere in early 90s thereabout we agreed that we liberalise the market,” he said.
The GES boss added: “When government was doing it on its own it had some advantages and disadvantages. We think that this is a much better process, however, the market itself needs to be educated on what a book is and what goes into a book.”
Quality of content
Prof Opoku-Amankwa, however, emphasised that despite the liberalisation of the market, the quality and content must not be relegated to the background.
“We don’t want a situation where you gag people, you restrict people from what they read,” the GES boss further added.
The call is coming on the backdrop of the backlash that has greeted the circulation of some three unapproved controversial textbooks – the History of Ghana Textbook 3 by Badu Nkansah Publications, History of Ghana for Basic 6 and Golden English Basic 4 by Golden Publications.
The publishers of one of the books the History of Ghana Textbook 3 by Badu Nkansah Publications, has since apologised over the development.
The company has also been asked to withdraw the History of Ghana Textbook 3 from the market.
Fred Dzakpata
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