The Executive Secretary of National Council for Curriculum Assessment (NaCCA) is shocked at complaints Publishers Association that it sidestepped in the new curriculum reform.
According to Dr. Prince Armah, the group met him for a meeting and these concerns raised never came up for discussion.
“Our last meeting with the Association was just two weeks ago and the issues they raised, which were addressed were completely different from what they seemed to be saying at the press conference,” he said in an interview with the media.
The Ghana Book Publishers Association has called on government to come to the aid of its members to mitigate their losses, following the introduction of a new curriculum.
Speaking to Joy News’s last week, President of the Association, Eliot Agyare, said prior to the introduction of the new curriculum members of the association had in stock, books they were going to sell for the next academic year.
“Unfortunately we are starting a new curriculum that does not need those old books,” Eliot Agyare lamented.
According to them, the absence of textbooks would affect teaching and learning.
But in a riposte, NaCCA boss is convinced concerns being raised by the publishers are purely business related rather than the general national and public interest.
Taking the journalists through the history of educational reforms right from 1987 to the 2017 reforms, Dr Prince Armah said it has always been the case for a curriculum to be developed first before textbooks are printed and approved by the Council.
“At no point in recent history has curriculum been developed concurrently with the provision of textbooks,” he said.
Explaining how textbooks are produced, the NaCCA boss said after the curriculum is produced, it is made available to private publishers who then craft the textbooks to follow the provisions of the curriculum.
These textbooks are then submitted to NaCCA who then assesses the contents, make inputs before approving or disapproving the textbook.
Dr Armah said that is the current position NACCA is at the moment.
“Some of the publishers have submitted copies of their textbooks which we are currently assessing,” he disclosed showing samples of the books that are currently being worked on.
He said instead of three months period to assess the textbooks from the publishers, NaCCA has put in place a team to assess the books in one month before approving it.
