4 _ _ $~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-D' V E L OP PM E N T 7 _| K a ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~PX E R S S A I E -S,;- rn ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ a __ ^^~~~~~~k~ support~ June2002 of textbooks _ >;W<;5 e~~~~~~rdn aricd .,;... - ~~I tzoo .-. _PRESERVING THE LIFE OF MY SCHOOL BOOKS I clean my book ~ Li VbcftoK nmy E0 - wash-my had - oero~~~e touching situp straight j my book w~~~~hen t read> 45 -- 4 L * * -. zJ! Iurn the I put mybook pages with back on shelf carecarfuf Africa Region Human Development Working Paper Series World Bank Support for Provision of Textbooks in Sub-Saharan Africa 1985-2000 Africa Region The World Bank i June 2002 Human Development Sector Africa Region The World Bank The views expressed witflin are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the World Bank or any of its affiliated organizations. Cover consists of a poster produced under a World Bank-financed education project in Madagascar. Cover design by Tomoko Hirata. Contents Contents ............... iii Publishers' Access to Capital .............................. 21 The Totality of the Book Chain .............................. 22 Foreword ................v Government Capacity and Political Will .................... 22 World Bank Policies ................1 111. World Bank Policies .............................. 23 Executive ................I Procurement .............................. 24 Liberalization ...............................24 Summary ....................... . Support of Local Book Industries .25 Significant Developments in the Review Period ........1 Current Policy Initiatives ................ 27 Use in Schools .......................................3 Government Capacity and Willingness ......................3 IV. Project Design and Implementation: Recommendations for Bank Action ............................3 Textbook Development ........................... 29 Author's Note ............................5 Manuscript Preparation ........................... 29 Language of Instruction ........................... 32 I. Introduction ............................5 Evaluation ........................... 32 Context ............................5 Intellectual Property Rights ........................... 33 The Review ............................6 Summary of Best Practices ........................... 33 Author's Note ............................9 Textbook Production by State Agencies .................... 37 II. Issues in Textbook Provision ......................... 11 V. Project Design and Implementation: Authorship .................11 Procurement .................................. 37 Gender Sensitivity ................ 12. Procurement of Publishing Services ........................ 37 Language of Instruction ................ 12i Procurement Off the Shelf .................................. 39 Evaluation .................... 13 Flexibility in Procurement .42 Intellectual Property Rights .................. 131 Reprinting .43 Editorial Supervision .................. 14! Economies of Scale .43 Design .................. 14i Concerns .44 Manufacture .................. 14! Summary of Best Practices .45 Distrib,ution .................. 15 Quantities Involved .47 Availability and Use ............. . . 151 Recurring Costs ............. 61 VI. Project Design and Implementation: Cost Recovery ............ 161 Distribution and Use .47 Market Size ..................: :,I Distribution by the State .47 Training . .................. 1 71 Private Sector Distribution .49 Public!or Private Provision 1..................!.1 Distribution through Civil Society Organizations .50 The State's Role in Textbook Provision ....................19 Storage in the Schools ........................ 51 Decentralization ........................... 19 School Management of Textbooks ........................ 51 The Role of Local Stakeholders ........................... 19 Use in the Schools ........................ 52 Multiple Choice in Textbooks ........................... 20 Teacher Training in Textbook Use ........................ 52 National and International Provision ........................ 20 Summary of Best Practices ........................ 53 iV AFRICA REGION HUMAN DEVELOPMENT WORKING PAPER SERIES VIl. Project Design and Implementation: Xi. Conclusion ............ ...................... 87 Cost Recovery and Affordability .................... 55 Published Materials .89 Cost Recovery through Sales by the Private or Public Sector ............................... 55 References .89 Textbook Loans in Retum for Rental Fees ............... 57 World Bank Unpublished Documents .90 Interventions to Increase Accessibility ...................... 59 Other Unpublished Documents .91 Targeted Support and Demand-Side Financing ...... 60 World Bank Project Reports .91 Free-of-Charge Textbook Loans ............................... 60 World Bank Staff Interviewed .93 Summary of Best Practices .................................. 61 Short-Term or Emergency Issues ............................ 63 Appendixes .95 Appendix 1: Projects in Sub-Saharan Africa with Vill. Project Design and Implementation: Significant Textbook Components ..................... 96 Issues and Responses ............... 63 Appendix 2: Characteristics of Textbook Liberalization .......... 64 Provision ..... 99 Decentralization ...........: 65 Multiple Choice .........................67 Boxes, Tables, and Figures Strengthening Local Publishing Capacity ................ 68 Community Involvement .............................. 68 Table 1.1 IDA Credits in Sub-Saharan Africa ....................7 Govemmental Capacity and Commitment ............... 69 Table 1.2 World Bank-Financed Education Projects Summary of Best Practices .................. 70 with Textbook Components in Africa ................8 Time Frames .............................-------......-------.-------73 Table 1.3 Characteristics of Focus Countries ......... 8 Table 2.1 Estimated Population, July 2000 ........ 17 IX. Lessons Learned ........................-. ....... 73 Table 2.2 Possible Mixes of Public and Private Public and Private Provision ................... 73 Sector Roles in Textbook Provision ............... 18 Privatization and Prices ............... 74 Table 2.3 Cost Structure of an Average African Local Stakeholders ............ 74 Textbook ...... ; 19 Local Publishing Industries ................... 74 Table 7.1 World Bank Projects Incorporating Cost Small States .............. 75 Recovery through Rental Fees ...................... 58 Government Capacity .............. 75 Government Commitment .................. 75 Figure 4.1 Responsibility for Development by Improving the Quality of Textbooks ........................... 77 Population ..................................... 30 Figure 4.2 Responsibility for Development by Level ..... 30 X. Recommendations ............................ 77 Figure 6.1 Distribution by Sector ................................. 49 Improving Equity of Access to Textbooks .................. 78 Ensuring Better Use of Textbooks ....................... 79 Box 4.1 Nigeria: Sample Criteria in a Checklist for Improving the Sustainability of Textbook Evaluating Primary Textbooks .34 Provision .... 81 Box 5.1 Evaluating Bids for Both Quality and Cost ........ 39 Improving Contributions to the Development of Box 5.2 Benin: Selection through Weighted the Local Private Publishing Sector ..................... 83 Evaluation ..... 41 Foreword T he key role textbooks and other written train- ing, production, distribution, and procurement. These ing materials play in enhancing the quality of improvements were achieved generally by education is universally recognized. This role outsourcing these services to the private sector is especially important in Sub-Saharan Africa where through competitive bidding. There were also ad- there generally is a severe shortage of reading materi- vances in other areas. For example, there is greater als. To help countries establish systems that can en- availability of textbooks in national languages for sure reliable provision of textbooks has, therefore, primary education; this will help enhance learning been an important element of the World Bank's sup- outcomes. There is also more competition in textbook port for education development in Africa during the provision through liberalization and multiple choice. past two decades. Other development agencies and This holds the promise of innovation and lower prices African governments have made similar investments. where textbooks are published commercially. And, yet, at the start of the twenty-first century, the Despite these advances, however, more progress majority of the pupils-in many countries still lack the is urgently needed in several areas. Three deserve spe- benefit of this valuable learning tool. cial mention. First, attempts to establish sustainable The main purpose of this report is to explore why financing of textbook provision through various types this is so and to identify the challenges that need to be of cost recovery schemes have generally failed. Apart overcome to ensure that every student has adequate from the problems often experienced in the manage- access to good quality textbooks. To achieve this rap- ment of textbook "revolving funds," the costs of text- idly is crucial to improving the quality of education books-even when heavily subsidized-are beyond and, more generally, to attaining the goal of good qual- the budgets of too many poor families. In most cases, ity basic education for all by 2015. The report is basedl therefore, a sustainable solution is likely to require on a desk review of eighty-nine World Bank-financed that govenments make adequate provision in their educationi projects with textbooks components un-1 education budgets for this essential input in the same der implementation during the period 1985-2000 in! way they do for the financing of teacher salaries. Free forty Sub-Saharan African countries. It is the first provision of textbooks is justified, given their crucial operatioral review of World Bank support for text-! role in the learning process and the fairly limited share book provision in the Africa Region since 1985. 1 of the education budget needed to make textbooks The rIeport identifies problems and good practicesi available to all pupils. Second, many countries need at all stages of textbook provision, from authorship to to improve their distribution systems to ensure that classroomh use. It also recognizes that considerable the textbooks they procure get down to the school improvements were made during the review period level in a timely and secure manner. Third, teachers in key areas such as manuscript development, edit- must be trained in the effective use of textbooks. Train- vi AFRICA REGION HUMAN DEVELOPMENT WORKING PAPER SERIES ing is also needed for school directors and teachers in port will be the subject of workshops in Africa to dis- the care of textbooks and the maintenance of textbook serninate the findings. It will also help guide Bank staff stocks. in their policy dialogue with countries on policies and The Africa Region of the World Bank will use the investments in this important sector. findings of this report to help countries address the The preparation of the report has been supported issues they face in establishing sustainable systems by the Norwegian Education Trust Fund. of textbook provision. As part of this strategy, the re- Birger Fredriksen Senior Education Advisor Africa Region, The World Bank 10*o(7nta lLsblhshing,c. nsltant, conducted thc'rei'6 waUndirion of Sahe; * rd:B itebok;specialist Pe reviewers wvere AaiUatV.erpodr;!P -P. ~ ~ ~ 5 Prufpswvr rdeGumai nd Robert SProut)Lom n\ere receive.d-fro '7Bi.Fge r!;:I:l " , . . - "' - - X~~~~~~~~~~~- '. k~Engishf and'Slibhdria S65~WZ.(WorId 6"n)A'Masakdo:SaCilibre ~ilS@~ni 'W6rking~ Book.qWd LeaThng Matedas;Mo'o6fiok10rvie:esar, ~b~~da nnnitrab ~ssisan~l affila,'S? Cubberlv edited-ardli u~h~rpr. F 21~ W&~* ~. . Executive Summary _ espite more than a quarter century of effort* Attempts were made to recover the cost of text- and the investment of tens of millions of dol- books and to establish revolving funds for re- lars, many African students lack adequate plenishing the stock, but with only limited suc- access to textbooks. Where textbooks have been pro- cess. Even subsidized sales prices or rental fees duced, they are not always available to students in proved too expensive for poor and disadvantaged sufficient numbers. This report is based on a desk families. By the end of the 1990s, a clear trend review of eighty-nine World Bank-financed educa- emerged toward encouraging governments to tion projects approved or already under way between provide free textbooks to all primary school pu- 1985 and 2000 in forty countries of Sub-Saharan Af- pils. rica. It is the first such review since a global World * Increased attention was paid to improving the Bank study completed in 1985. use of textbooks in the classroom. During the second half of the review period, credits that World Bank Policies involve new textbooks normally provided for World Bank policies and procedures were modified accompanying teacher's guides. Many projects in five key areas during the review period: also included teacher training in the use of textbooks. In 1985 Bank staff worked under a view, then com- mon, that a centralized, state-dominated system Significant Developments in the Review Period was the most desirable mode of textbook provi-! sion. Subsequently, public sector provision inj Procurement. Few African states now depend entirely many countries proved inefficient and ineffective.! on state or parastatal agencies to produce textbooks. By 2000 the Bank had concluded th,at private sec-I In more than half the projects reviewed, the state re- tor initiatives and competition were indispens-: tained the initial responsibility for developing text- able ¢o textbook provision. books, but procured publishing services from the * Procedures for quality evaluation were incorpo-! private sector through competitive bidding, nation- rated: in competitive bidding for publishing ser-I ally or internationally. Services included writing, vices and finished textbooks. I editing, illustration, design, production, and deliv- * Appreciation grew for the role of domestic pri-! ery. This public-private interrelationship secures the vate publishing industries in textbook provision. efficiency of the competitive private sector, while en- A new operational policy recognized the value of suring ultimate public control. It engages the private local acquisition with the caveat that educational sector in even the smallest market by removing the benefits so gained must clearly outweigh any element of entrepreneurial risk. higher costs. 2 AFRICA REGION HUMAN DEVELOPMENT WORKING PAPER SERIES In the balance of projects, the books procured book evaluation for teachers who are used to having (many of them for libraries) originated in the private one authorized textbook per subject-grade. sector. In countries adopting general policies of eco- nomic liberalization, textbook procurement has com- Mother tongue instruction. Evidence from several coun- pletely shifted to the private sector. tries suggests that mother tongue instruction leads Any move from state to private provision is likely to higher performance and fewer dropouts, especially to increase the perceived cost of textbooks. Commer- among poor and ethnic minority children. In the 1990s cial publishers must recover all costs from sales, there was increased interest in teaching in the mother whereas governments often budget only for the di- tongue in the earliest primary grades with the met- rect cost of manufacturing. Savings from the transi- ropolitan language of the former colonizing power tion will occur only if overhead and other costs pre- phased in only later. In countries with more than one viously incurred in public textbook provision are re- local language, mother tongue instruction could com- moved. plicate educational management and compound the difficulties of textbook provision, increasing the unit Cost recovery and affordability. In fifty of the eighty-nine cost of materials as national press runs are fragmented projects, governments tried to recover all or part of and exacerbating the logistical problems of distribu- the costs of textbook provision through sales or rental tion. Despite these difficulties, it was felt that the Bank fees. Revenue was put into a revolving fund to be and other donors should help countries understand used to replenish textbook stocks. Even a small rental fully the benefits of using local languages for instruc- fee, however, proved too great for many families to tion and encourage them to formulate and implement pay. Several attempts at cost recovery failed through appropriate language policies. mismanagement or government failure to allocate funds to compensate for subsidies. Other attempts Timeframes. Textbook provision will benefit from the were abandoned as too unwieldy or inequitable. A trend toward sectoral investment programs with ten- number of countries reverted to lending textbooks to year horizons. The development of a new or revised primary students without charge to encourage ac- textbook typically takes three years, yet many text- cess to education. Recent programs also provide for book components have been tied to a time-consum- free loans. ing initial process of curriculum revision in a project that lasts only four or five years. Decentralization. Decentralization has proved desirable in countries where decisions made at the center take Involvement of local stakeholders. Several recent Bank time to effect and do not always meet needs at the projects have incorporated elements of local man- institutional or district level. Decentralization also agement in education, using community organiza- accords with the democratic principle that all stake- tions or parent-teacher associations. Textbooks have holders should be involved in a function so impor- been seen as one of the easier components in which to tant to the community. The change is complex, re- implement the policy. With increased responsibility, quiring careful planning and gradual phasing. communities are expected to become more active in caring for and maintaining their instructional re- Multiple choice. Multiple choice in textbooks has been sources and ensuring their proper use. Local over- implemented in a few countries and planned in oth- sight and involvement are seen as effective methods ers. Competition in texts implies the use of commer- to control abuses; stakeholder involvement, however, cial publishers and encourages them to improve their has failed when seen as less than meaningful. products. It also allows teachers or district-level offi- cials to choose the books best suited to their students' Local publishing industries. Policies of decentralization, needs and experiences. But multiple choice also frag- multiple choice, mother tongue instruction, and sup- ments the market and reduces economies of scale. Its port for literacy outside the classroom are creating benefits depend on decentralization of selection to new opportunities for domestic publishers in the text- the local or district level. It requires training in text- book market. Textbook revenue, in turn, makes it pos- WORLD BANK SUPPORT FOR PROVISION OF TEXTBOOKS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 1985-2000 3 sible for local publishers to develop supplementary the respective roles and comparative advantages of reading material and other books that will help de- the public and private sectors in the various stages velop reading habits and reinforce literacy. Bank of textbook development, production, and distribu- projects have financed training in authorship and tion. At the international level, debt reduction should publishing skills, and those courses have been in- relieve some of the fiscal stringency brought about creasingly opened to the private sector without by low commodity prices and severely constrained charge. The Bank has also taken some steps to relieve government budgets. In addition, the current posi- the difficulty African publishers face in raising capi- tive international climate favoring education is likely tal. to lead to increased external financial support for education in Africa. Use in Schools Many textbooks do not reach their intended schools. Recommendations for Bank Action Some are damaged or lost in transit or are diverted to other schools or the open market. In the past, others To improve the quality of textbooks: were not delivered for lack of public resources; deliv- ery costs now are likely to be included in the credit * Encourage state agencies responsible for devel- and entrusted to private transporters. oping textbooks to use authors carefully chosen Books that do reach the schools may not be fully from the private sector, reward them appropri- used. Teachers may fear the books will be lost or dam- ately, and support them with adequate training aged if they are tumed over to students. Other teach- in written communication. ers who have never taught with textbooks and were * Monitor the quality of textbooks provided with themselves taught without books are intimidated by IDA funding more closely than in the past. Before them. contracts for printing of new books are signed, Teacher training in the use of textbooks has been conduct spot audits of textbooks selected in the included in many education credits. The training has course of bid evaluation. Before textbooks are re- not always been fully implemented. Training is also printed, commission field studies of the appro- needed for teachers in the care of books. School and priateness of academic and social content, lan- ministry of education (MOE) officials need training guage, and length. and detailed procedures in maintaining textbook * In bid evaluation, allot at least 40 percent of the stocks. weighting to the quality of content. Expand its support for supplementary reading Government Capacity and Willingness materials as an adjunct to textbooks. In more than one project, the MOE proved incapable * Prepare one or more standard sets of criteria for of fulfilling all the demands placed on it by an over- evaluating textbooks, incorporating best prac- ambitious design. The problem was particularly tices from all regions. These basic documents acute in small countries with a small corps of over- could be adapted to meet the borrower's condi- committed civil servants. Some countries have failed tions and requirements. to meet financial commitments made under agree- ments with the International Development Agency To Improve equity of access for all to good quality primary (IDA) to replace stocks financed by the Bank and other education: donors. Project implementation also suffered from fre- * Ensure that adequate numbers of textbooks are quent changes in government and in project staff. provided without charge at the primary level. Difficulties began in the design of some projects * Provide a mechanism for equity of access to through a failure to involve local stakeholders ad- textbooks at the secondary level. Selective equately in planning. assistance should be favored over subsidized Several positive trends at the national and in- rental fees or sale prices. Include commitments ternational level should help ease these constraints. to maintain equity of access in credit agreements At the national level, there is better understanding of and monitor borrower's performance regularly. 4 AFRICA REGION HUMAN DEVELOPMENT WORING PAPER SERIES To ensure better use of textbooks: * In the design of textbook components, address the roles, responsibilities, and concerns of all * Give the highest possible priority to teacher train- players in the book chain that stretches from the ing in the use of textbooks. Audit the borrower's MOE to the individual student. Evaluate the performance in this respect annually and take capacity and capability of every link. At every steps to improve it if necessary. stage, provide adequately for monitoring and * Provide special training in selection before mul- response. tiple choice in textbooks is introduced. Annotated . Urge governments to preserve any intellectual lists of authorized learning materials would be property rights in textbooks that they own. Make of particular help to decisionmakers who cannot public retention of copyright in textbooks devel- inspect the books themselves. oped by public agencies with IDA financing an * Prepare guidelines to facilitate training of MOE explicit condition in credit agreements. and private sector staff in textbook provision. The * Encourage borrowers to share expertise and guidelines would be available to borrowers to achieve economies of scale through the coopera- translate and adapt to local conditions. Subjects tive development and production of textbooks, could include the development, selection, stor- and seek ways to support such cooperation. age, and care of textbooks. . Conduct workshops on the use of digital technol- * Provide adequately for delivery to remote schools ogy in producing subregional co-editions. that the private sector cannot reach economically. * Encourage governments to pool efforts in the * When textbooks are sold through commercial preparation of local language textbooks when channels, provide means to serve rural areas languages cross jurisdictional borders. where no bookshops exist. * Increase internal Bank expertise in textbook pro- . Ensure that adequate storage space for textbooks vision and management. exists at all necessary administrative levels, * Involve a textbook specialist in the design of ev- down to the school level. The improvement of ery education project that includes provision of existing facilities could be a subject for coopera- printed teaching-learning materials. tion with other donors and civil society organi- zations (CSOs). To Improve contributions to the development of the local * Continue efforts to instill good practices in book private publishing sector: storage and maintenance. Stock keepers, teach- ers, and students should be provided with de- * In Bank support for capacity building in textbook tailed instructions and trained in the care and provision, draw increasingly on African exper- management of books to preserve stock and en- tise and African examples of best practice. sure its efficient use. * Encourage domestic industry by improving Af- * Include computerized stock control and training rican publishers' access to capital. Possible strat- in its use in future projects to achieve economies egies include modified guidelines for domestic in textbook provision. preference, concessionary loans, and a guaran- • Finance the design or adaptation of a standard teed loan scheme. computer program for stock control and man- * Ensure that bidding documents for procuring agement of textbook provision. textbooks are as short, simple, and inexpensive as possible. To improve the sustainability of textbook provision: * Support training in international procurement. * Test standard bidding documents for effective- . Include in the credit a borrower's commitment ness and efficiency before they are implemented, to fund replenishment of textbooks, normally using a representative sample of local and under a dedicated budget line. Performance transnational publishers and printers. should be audited annually, with satisfactory performance a condition for any future educa- tion credits. l Introduction N ext to a good teacher, a good textbook is the a bid evaluation procedure designed to be objec- most effective medium of instruction. When tive teachers are underqualified, underpaid, and * Are treated as commodities, yet their value con- undermotivated, the textbook and its accompanying sists largely of services delivered teacher's manual are especially important. That situ- * Involve intellectual property rights that may ation is far too common in Sub-Saharan Africa. complicate the exercise of competitive bidding The provision of textbooks has been linked loosely . Have meaningful value only as part of a process to improved student attendance and directly to im- that stretches from the author to the classroom proved student performance. In classrooms without teacher and student, every part of which requires adequate textbooks, time is wasted, while teachers attention in project design dictate lessons and write information and exercises . Are less obvious and expensive than civil works on the blackboard for students to copy into their note- and less innovative than policy restructuring. As books. In classrooms without up-to-date textbooks, a result, they may be lumped in with vehicles, teachers and pupils alike are slaves to obsolete knowI- equipment, and other materials in project bud- edge and methodology. For many young people on a gets. book-starved continent, textbooks are the only in- troductioni to literacy. As a result, the provision of In addition, despite more than a quarter century textbooks has been prominent in most of the World of effort by the Bank and the investment of tens of Bank's eduication credits and loans to Sub-Saharan millions of dollars during that time, many students Africa, at times amounting to one-quarter or more of in Sub-Saharan Africa still lack adequate access to the total disbursement. textbooks. Where textbooks have been produced, they Yet textbooks have never fit easily into the Bank's are not always available to the students. program, because they: These are the issues that this report addresses. It is based on a desk review of eighty-nine Bank-fi- * Last only a few years and must then be replen- nanced educational projects approved or already ished' under way between 1985 and 2000 in forty countries * Are normally procured in a few large lots, but of Sub-Saharan Africa. The review was carried out even during the life of a project, sh6uld be recog- between March and June 2001. nized by the borrower as an annual recurring expense Context * Are described as quality inputs, whose assess- Sub-Saharan Africa contains some of the world's ment is largely subjective, yet they must fit into poorest countries. They remain largely rural, and 6 AFRICA REGION HUMAN DEVELOPMENT WORKING PAPER SERIES large numbers of their people scratch a living from enough books and supplies. These materials are subsistence farming. Poverty rates in the country- effective in raising test scores and, almost in- side may exceed 80 percent. The region's economies variably, have been underfunded relative to depend heavily on commodities, for which world teachers' salaries. This is also an area where prices have been low. Mismanagement, war and civil external aid has a comparative advantage. (p. unrest, floods, drought, and desertification have vari- xiv) ously plagued these countries. Structural adjustment policies have led indirectly to a reallocation of land Evidence points strongly toward the provision and labor away from commercial agriculture, affect- of instructional materials, textbooks especially, ing economic behavior, family patterns, social iden- as being the most cost-effective way of increas- tities, and cultural norms. With the decline in eco- ing the quality of education. The scarcity of nomic importance of agriculture, considerable mi- learning materials in the classroom is the most gration has taken place; men have lost much of their serious impediment to educational effectiveness status as providers, and more women have become in Africa. (p. 50) wage earners, largely as domestic servants. These fundamental shifts increase the demands on govern- Given that many primary school teachers in ments to promote the development of human capital Africa have less formal education and teacher and equip their people to work in the new environ- training than is usually the case in more devel- ment by fostering literacy, numeracy, knowledge of oped regions of the world, the use of teachers' the national language, and various occupational skills guides and other materials designed to assist (Bryceson 2001). low-qualified teachers in the organization of The period studied coincided with a major shift classroom activities could prove to be especial- in Bank priorities from post-primary to primary edu- ly cost-effective in the African context. (p. 50) cation, following a 1987 document, Education Policies for Sub-Saharan Africa: Adjustment, Revitalization, and Ex- The Review pansion. That study was prepared because school en- This review was initially to cover approximately rollments in Sub-Saharan Africa were stagnating and thirty-five representative projects that incorporated educational services were deteriorating-develop- textbooks and learning materials. In making the se- ments that impeded efforts to solve the region's eco- lection, however, it became evident that a sample of nomic and social problems. A downward spiral of that size could not represent the diversity of reality. economic erosion threatened the considerable ad- The countries ranged from tiny Comoros to giant vances in education that had been made since inde- Nigeria, the educational levels from primary to ter- pendence. tiary, the learning materials from reading primers to The report's recommendations covered broad university-level scientific and reference works, the improvements in efficiency, financing, curricula, and structures from state dominance to free-market com- social equity. Several of its strongest comments re- petition, the implementation from purchase of exist- ferred to textbooks: ing books in a metropolitan language to the develop- ment of entirely new works in local languages. In the countries where educational standards A search was made of documents in the Bank's have deteriorated most, the choice between electronic data bases for projects that (a) were within expansion and quality is no longer an either-or the African region, (b) had been approved or were choice. Without some basic revitalizing inputs, under way between 1985 and 2000, and (c) involved particularly textbooks and instructional materi- provision of significant numbers of textbooks or other als, almost no leaming can be expected to occur teaching-learning materials. Some additional projects (p. xiv). were identified from staff documents. Appendix 1 lists eighty-nine projects that met the three criteria. Sev- The safest investment in educational quality in eral more projects involved small numbers of text- most countries is to make sure that there are books, but were not included. WORLD BANK SUPPORT FOR PROVISION OF TEXTBOOKS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 1985-2000 7 Overall, education projects accounted for one- Although every project was reviewed at least briefly, tenth of all credits approved for Sub-Saharan Africa. special attention was paid to those in seventeen Almost three-quarters of the educationX projects in- broadly representative countries (see table 1.3). cluded provision of textbooks, teacher's guides, or Textbooks were invariably only part of a broader other teaching-learning materials (see table 1.1). This program of educational improvement and usually a proportion reflected a considerable increase in atten- relatively small part of the total cost. In a few projects tion to textbook provision. The last review of this they accounted for one-quarter or more of the total kind, completed in 1985 by Barbara Searle, covered expenditure. More often they accounted for less than fiscal 1965-83. During that period only 18 percent of 10 percent of the total and frequently for less than education projects worldwide had textbook compo- half that (see appendix 1). nents, although the proportion was increasing-from Chapter 2 considers the major issues involved in only 6 percent before 1974 to 32 percent in fiscal 1978- provision of textbooks and related materials. Chap- 83. ter 3 reviews World Bank policy related to textbook The increased attention to primary education af- provision during the review period. Chapters 4 to 7 ter 1987 was not reflected in textbook provision, review experience in textbook development, procure- which was always strongly biased toward the basic ment, distribution, and cost recovery. Chapter 8 ex- levels (see table 1.2). amines other issues, chapter 9 lists major lessons All, but eight of the countries in the Africa region leamed, and chapter 10 recommends strategies that have had projects involving textbooks since 1985; the appear to be implementable. Appendix 2 summarizes exceptions were Congo, Eritrea, Gabon, Liberia, the roles of the public and private sectors and efforts Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. for cost recovery are summarized for each project. Table 1.1 IDA Credits in Sub-Saharan Africa Year Number of IDA Credits Education Credits Credits with Percent Credits with In SSA in SSA Textbook Components Textbook Components 1985 66 4 2 50 1986 61 5 3 60 1987 68 6 6 100 1988 69 8 7 88 1989 69 4 5 125 1990 67 9 9 100 1991 67 7 7 100 1992 67 8 6 75 1993 72 13 7 54 1994 57 7 2 29 1995 74 6 6 100 1996 53 6 3 50 1997 47 4 3 75 1998 57 7 5 71 1999 55 7 4 57 2000 66 9 4 44 Total 1,015 110 79 72 * Includes Emergency Flood Reconstruction Project in Sudan. 8 AFRICA REGION HUMAN DEVELOPMENT WORKING PAPER SERIES Table 1.2 World Bank-Financed Education Projects with Textbook Components in Africa 1965-83a 1985-2000b Number of Projects Percent Number of Projects Percent Primary only 16 67 49 55 Primary and secondary 5 21 23 26 Prmary and terbiary - - 1 1 Secondary only 1 4 5 6 Secondary and tertiary - - 3 3 Tertiary only 1 4 6 7 Al levels 1 4 2 2 Total 24 100 89 100 a. This period represents the period covered by Searle (1985). b. This period represents the period covered by this report. Table 1.3 Characteristics of Focus Countries Country Location International Language Population (millions) Southern Luso- West Central and East English French phone Other <5 5-10 10-20 >20 Angola X X X Burkina Faso X X X Burundi X X X Cape Verde X X X Cote d'lvoire X X X Ethiopia X X X The Gambia X X X Guinea X X X Guinea Bissau X X X Lesotho X X X Madagascar X X X Malawi X X X Nigeria X X X Rwanda X X X Senegal X X X Tanzania X X X Zambia X X X Totals 8 2 7 6 7 3 1 4 4 6 3 WORLD BANK SUPPORT FOR PROVISION OF TEXTBOOKS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 1985-2000 9 Author's Note things to go wrong than right; failures are included only to illustrate the many pitfalls that can lie in the This report has all the limnitations of a desk re- path of task managers. view based on documents that were readily avail- It has been possible in the time available to fol- able and without field visits. The documents were in low up only on the major trails the research has un- some cases inconsistent. In general, as another ob- covered. The review conentrates on textbooks, al- server has pointed out Jones 1992, p. 88), the docu- though, in general, it is safe to assume that funding ments frequently reflect the optimism and enthusi- for newly developed textbooks also included funding asms of their authors. At the same time, they show for the accompanying teacher's guide. The initials the all-too-human trait of singling out failure more MOE have been used generically for all ministries con- readily than success. The examples that follow may cemed with education, although the official name make the same error, although balance has been may be different. sought. It is a sad fact that there are more ways for Issues in Textbook Provision textbook is a mediated communication be Authorship A tween its author and an individual student The ideal textbook author is an expert in the subject, W reader. To the extent that the communica- familiar with and supportive of the curriculum, ex- tion is ineffective, the textbook will fail in its purpose. perienced in teaching at the appropriate grade levels, The success of the communication, in turn, depends and skilled in writing that will interest and motivate on the effectiveness of the mediation. This basic rela- students. Such paragons are scarce anywhere. As a tionship may be overlooked in a process that is con- result, the writing of instructional materials in the cerned practically with the provision of physical North has become a team effort, especially in the com- quantities of textbooks along with quantities of chalk, plex task of writing an integrated series of textbooks blackboards, slates, exercise books, and other com- and teacher's guides spanning several grades in a modity "quality inputs." subject. Mediation consists of services-editorial direc- Writing in Sub-Saharan Africa is likely to be more tion, design, production supervision, and distribu- solitary, but is growing increasingly professional. tion. Essential concurrent activities are teacher train- Transnational publishers commonly use African na- ing and the raising of community awareness on the tionals to write or adapt textbooks. Ministries are value of textbooks. The costs of mediation can be sub- looking outside their own ranks. In the past, many stantial, but may not be apparent. If the publisher is textbooks were written by subject specialists in the the state, many costs will be buried in departmental same national agency that was responsible for de- salary budgets. In private sector publishing, most veloping the curriculum. This was an incestuous re- are usually included in overhead. lationship that did nothing to ensure that the au- In the finished product, moreover, mediation is thors had recent classroom experience or were famil- invisible. Even a skilled reader can rarely identify iar with life beyond the urban elite. In recent years, the extent to which good editing has improved the several MOEs have been commissioning private au- author's writing, good design has enhanced the com- thors, often retired teachers, to undertake the work munication of the author's intent or saved money in of writing new texts or adapting existing ones. The the book's production, or good training has increased transition has been facilitated by training for authors a textbook's use. Failures in any of these areas may be (and for illustrators, designers, and editors) under all too obvious: texts that are incomplete, inaccurate, projects financed by the Bank and other agencies. or unsuited to local needs, books that are too costly, The training of local authors is essential because or volumes languishing in storage. a good textbook reflects the experience of the students A number of issues must be addressed in plan- using it and the cultural sensitivities of their com- ning textbook provision. This chapter discusses them munity. Even "neutral" subjects such as mathemat- in general. ics and science may be country specific. In Angola, a 12 AFRICA REGION HUMAN DEVELOPMENT WORKING PAPER SERIES new government insisted on revising primary math- A child with no understanding of Portuguese is ematics books, because existing ones had too social- taught by a poorly trained teacher unable to ist a bias-for example, a child going to the maison du communicate effectively in the language of peuple, rather than a retail shop to buy eggs for the instruction. family meal. Experiments in science books must use materials that are readily available, and examples Evidence from several countries suggests that should be within the students' experience. mother tongue instruction leads to better perfor- For countries that want to obtain new textbooks mance and lower repetition and dropout rates, espe- quickly, but cannot find anything suitable that is al- cially among poor and ethnic minority children. In ready published, the fastest route is usually to adapt Mali, bilingual teaching coincided with higher atten- existing books under an agreement with the pub- dance and higher scores in all subjects, including lisher of the original edition. Adaptation may only mastery of French, especially for girls and disadvan- involve changing examples to reflect the local con- taged (or minority language) children. Taught in their text and modifying content to fit national curricula. mother tongue, students grasp concepts more readily, The basic structure is already in place, and large parts and when the time comes, they learn the second lan- of the text and many illustrations may be usable with guage and its labels for the embedded concepts more only minor changes. The original books have already quickly. Teachers ill equipped to teach in the metro- been tested in use and may have been improved ac- politan language of the former colonizing power also cordingly. function more effectively. Much of the evidence from pilot tests in mother Gender Sensitivity tongue instruction is said to be tentative and derived Most projects that incorporate curriculum revision from questionable methodology (World Bank 2001a: include efforts to remove gender bias from teaching 37). Nevertheless, in the 1990s, interest increased in and textbooks. Bank-recommended criteria for text- using the pupils' mother tongue in the earliest pri- book evaluation also include gender and cultural sen- mary grades and only then phasing in the metro- sitivity. Nevertheless, unconscious gender biases lin- politan language. ger. The change is not without problems. Linguists have identified more than 1,250 languages used in Language of Instruction Sub-Saharan Africa, but only nine that are spoken Education in most Sub-Saharan African countries has by more than 10 million people as a first or second historically been provided in the language of the language (World Bank 1987: 53). Most language former colonizing power. To learn basic skills such as groups are much smaller. Little printed material ex- reading and arithmetic, students first had to learn ists in most of the vernacular languages. English, French, Portuguese, or Spanish. A perfor- Bilingual education requires time and resources mance audit in Comoros in 1997 found considerable to develop new instructional and learning materials evidence that with this approach most educational in the mother tongue. It may meet opposition from resources were spent on teaching French to both stu- some parents, especially in the elite, who associate it dents and teachers. Moreover, the audit team added, with second-class education. A European language is "The vast majority of students will live and work in necessary in most Sub-Saharan African countries for Comoros. They will have little need for French, but secondary education and, later, for tertiary education much need for the basic information they fail to ac- and for success in business or government. Adequate quire in the classroom." provision for the transition to the second language of A more succinct analysis appeared in the ap- instruction is necessary. praisal for a project in Guinea-Bissau, where all teach- In countries that use several languages of instruc- ing was in Portuguese, although only 11 percent of tion-Zambia has seven, Ethiopia nineteen-the dif- the population spoke the language: ficulties compound. If only some national languages are chosen for instruction, children speaking other languages may be marginalized. In urban areas es- WORLD BANK SUPPORT FOR PROVISION OF TEXTBOOKS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 1985-2000 13 pecially, the metropolitan language may have to be * Procedures that guarantee confidentiality for the used at all levels because of the diversity of students names of evaluators who have migrated from different linguistic areas of * Full and rapid reporting to publishers the country. . Strict adherence to stated guidelines and the rec- A multiplicity of languages reduces the mobility ommendations of the evaluators of the teaching staff and increases the work of sylla- bus writing, manuscript preparation, and teacher The process of evaluation within ministries is not training. It also compounds the difficulties of text- always so rigorous. The Bank has not normally been book provision, increases the unit cost of materials involved in evaluation, unless pedagogic quality is a as national press runs are fragmented, and exacer- criterion in the procurement process. bates the logistical problems of distribution. A return to the metropolitan language has its Intellectual Property Rights own hazards. Guinea adopted mother tongue in- A textbook is intellectual property and, as such, is struction in all primary schools when it achieved in- subject to national legislation and international agree- dependence in 1958, but failed to prepare students ments. The copyright in a textbook-that is, the ex- adequately for the transition to French in upper lev- clusive legal right to publish that book-has value els. When in 1984 a new regime launched educational that should be protected. Under most legislation, reforms, including a return to French for primary- copyright automatically belongs to the creator, in this level teaching, two generations of teachers lacked the case, the author; however, when the author is paid to fluency in French they needed under the new system. write as part of his or her job, copyright normally The additional costs of mother tongue instruc- belongs to the employer. This is the case when an tion must be measured against savings through gains MOE or one of its agencies (a curriculum develop- in educational efficiency Experience in the River State ment center or national pedagogical institute) has its of Nigeria, however, demonstrates that, if there is a employees write instructional materials or commis- will, it is possible for a jurisdiction to produce text- sions private authors to do so for a fee. books in several languages spoken by relatively small Many Sub-Saharan nations have opted to pre- numbers of students (World Bank 1987: 55). pare the manuscripts of their textbooks within their MOE or one of its agencies and to contract out other Evaluation publishing functions. The contracted functions may Although either the public or the private sector may include some or all of editing, design, illustration, carry out other functions of textbook provision, evalu- manufacture, and delivery. The agreements, as ap- ation of textbooks for use in the schools must be pub- proved by the Bank, provide only for procurement of lic. The state has a responsibility to ensure that all services. The copyright in the material remains with the books bought with public money or recom- the government of the country, which legally remains mended by the schools for purchase by parents meet the publisher of the textbook. minimum standards in content. The process of ap- i In many such agreements, the contractor is also praisal and authorization should not,only be thor-; required to turn over to the government the films it ough and' objective, but demonstratively so. This re- used in making printing plates. Unlike the retention quires: of copyright, the provision for transfer of film is only a convenience. It makes it possible for the govern- * A governing board, preferably with some mem- ment to purchase reprinting without going through bers from outside the MOE the filmmaking stage. * A set of uniform standards The distinction between the government as pub- . A corps of trained evaluators representative of lisher and a private sector company contracted to different areas of the country supply publishing services to the government is not * Open invitations to publishers to submit manu- always recognized. In Bank reports, contractors are scripts sometimes described as publishers. The distinction is critical. 14 AFRICA REGION HTJMAN DEVELOPMENT WORKING PAPER SERIES A government may, for financial or other reasons, Where copyright lodges need not be an issue in what decide to share publishing rights in a textbook with a is essentially a contractual relationship. commercial publisher. Alternatively, the government may retain copyright, but grant a commercial pub- Editorial Supervision lisher exclusive rights to publish or reprint a text- Because it is so important that textbooks are accu- book. Such rights may be limited to a set number of rate and suited to their young readers, they require years or be in perpetuity; they may be restricted to unusually careful editing. the country of origin or extend beyond its borders; Editors ensure that a manuscript adheres to cur- they may provide for lump sum or royalty payments riculum and other departmental guidelines and that to the originating agency. the methodology, language, and content are appro- In any such sharing or granting of exclusive priate for the intended students. They examine manu- rights, however, the government loses its freedom of scripts for social content, including gender issues, ef- action in the future. Without its partner's agreement, fective use of illustrations, and probable number of it cannot open competitive bidding for any reprint- printed pages. ing or revision of the work. A commercial publisher They are concerned that the manuscript is com- anxious to secure its own position may withhold that plete and consistent within itself, the language clear, agreement. Without competitive bidding, the gov- and the presentation easy to understand. They check ernment may have difficulty in securing the Bank's that facts are accurate, text and illustrations agree, nonobjection to future purchases at a price that is spelling and grammar are correct, and nothing is above the threshold for direct contracting. likely to offend. This skilled fine combing may un- Here the Bank's policies may seem to conflict with cover a missing "not" or a misplaced decimal point, normal business practice. The public retention of either of which can totally change the author's mean- copyright may be seen as discouraging commercial ing. publishers from competing for textbook provision. Before printing, the textbook may be field tested. These concerns ignore the true purpose of copyright, Page proof copies are sent to teachers to try out in the which is not to create a monopoly, but to ensure that classroom. Field trials not infrequently demonstrate creators receive an appropriate reward for their that what was clear to an adult may puzzle a young- work. Publishers normally seek to obtain the copy- ster. Additional revision is then necessary. right in a textbook so that they can amortize over several printings the substantial initial investment Design in editorial development, illustration, design, type- Effective design assists communication between au- setting, pretesting, and film. They can obtain the same thor and readers; errors in design impede it. Errors assurance by securing exclusive rights of publica- may include a page that is too large or a book too tion during the life of the book without any transfer thick for small hands, a typeface that is too difficult of copyright. During the past three decades, books to read or too small for beginning readers, or a line have increasingly appeared in the author's copyright too long for easy scanning. and not the publisher's. Paper should receive careful consideration. The Under competitive bidding for publishing ser- color should be bright enough for easy reading, even vices, when the state holds copyright, bidders will in classrooms without electricity in the rainy season. seek to recoup all the initial costs from the printing Paper and binding must be strong enough to endure that is the subject of the tender. As a result, the unit youthful handling over several years. price will be higher than it might be if bidders could Good design is not only aesthetic; it is economi- hope to spread the costs over several printings. The cal and cost-effective. Ill-considered design can add unit price of reprints, however, should be correspond- substantially to the cost of production. ingly lower-a benefit to governments who must fund the cost of replenishment. Over several print- Manufacture ings, the differences should theoretically balance out. Printing and publishing are commonly taken to be the same, but the former is no more than a subset of WORLD BANK SUPPORT FOR PROVISION OF TEXTBOOKS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 1985-2000 15 the latter. Printing, paper, and binding are, however, most countries, books must be carried long distances by far the most costly components of textbook provi- on dirt roads, sometimes made impassable by sion and the ones most accommodating to competi- weather or low maintenance, in trucks that may be tive bidding. In some early projects, provision of print- in little better condition. Many schools are miles from ing equipment to a state or parastatal facility was the nearest point that a truck can reach. A study team seen as the key to ensuring provision of textbooks in that visited 363 schools in Guinea found that fifty- the schools. two (one in seven) could be reached only by all-ter- Few book publishers today own their own print- rain vehicles and six could be reached only on foot ing plants. The expense of modem presses has led to (AED 1998: 44). concentration in the industry, and publishers often Civil conflict impedes distribution in several arrange printing in cities and countries other than countries. In island nations, distribution depends on their own. the schedules and capacities of ferries and cargo Book printing is specialized work, different in its ships. In some West African countries, the academic requirements from printing newspapers, magazines, year is geared to Northern schedules and books must or commercial products. Bookbinding also requires be delivered during the rainy season to be in the substantial investment and skills. Few book printers schools before term starts in September. and fewer binderies in Sub-Saharan Africa can meet In countries where telephones and mail are un- the schedules and standards required for textbooks. reliable, school data tend to be incomplete, sometimes Much equipment is old or ill maintained for lack of false, more often outdated, and pitted with errors that local service expertise. are compounded in collation at several steps up the Paper is the most expensive item in book manu- ladder to the central office. facture in Sub-Saharan Africa, typically represent- Textbooks that are sold through retail outlets ing 45 to 70 percent of the total cost (in contrast to meet additional obstacles, principally the scarcity of about 30 percent in the North). The price of paper is bookshops outside urban centers. notoriously volatile and set by the largest producers and consumers in the North. Some African countries Availability and Use have developed their own papermaking capacity, but Most governments and most educators would like to rarely can produce the quality suitable for textbooks. provide every student with a complete set of school- books in every subject. A textbook-to-pupil ratio of Distribution 1:1 in core subjects is a common target, although not The delivery of state-owned books from a central always achieved. The ratio is physically and finan- warehouse to individual schools requires an organi- cially difficult for governments to maintain and may zational structure, adequate infrastructure, and suf- be unnecessarily expensive in some grades and sub- ficient money. Efficient allocation also requires recent jects. An often-quoted experiment in the Philippines and accurate information about present and future suggests that when schoolbooks are the property of enrollments by school, grade, and subject and about the school and not taken home, only a marginal dif- present textbook stocks. These requisites are not al- ference exists between ratios of 1:1 and 1:2. Some ex- ways present, and many books that are produced do perts have suggested that a ratio of 1:3 should be re- not reach a school. garded as satisfactory (Brunswic and Hajjar 1992: Textbooks in large numbers are bulky and heavy 19). to transport; they can be easily damaged through During the review period, projects in Sub-Saharan careless handling, exposure to water, and incursions Africa recognized that a minimum set of textbooks of rodents, insects, mold, and human thieves. Their for the primary levels constituted books in two sub- storage-centrally, in intermediate depots at regional I jects for the first two grades and in three subjects for and district offices, and in the schools-requires se- higher grades, in a textbook-to-pupil ratio of 1:2. cure quarters and trained personnel. The provision of textbooks is ineffective if the In urban areas, delivery of books to the schools books are not used or not used well. In schools that may be relatively easy. To reach the rural schools of have had no textbooks for years, teachers are accus- 16 AFRICA REGION HUMAN DEVELOPMENT WORKING PAPER SERIES tomed to doing without. They may hesitate to use the to the private sector for sale to parents at full cost new resources or may not know how to use them recovery to (b) government purchase of books for effectively. The provision of textbooks is incomplete rental to students at subsidized rates. unless there is provision for teacher training in their Cost recovery raises issues of affordability and use. equity. Many poor families in rural areas lack the cash for textbook rental fees and withdraw their children, Recurring Costs especially girls, from school; thus, an urban elite that Books have short lives. A textbook that is used with could afford to pay the full cost of the books gains care rarely lasts more than three to five years. Text- much of the benefit of subsidization. Cost recovery books that are imperfectly bound or subject to hard schemes may also suffer from delinquent payments, use do not last that long. Where children carry them inadequate allowance for loss and damage, misman- home each day over hilly paths; in seasons of heavy agement, and outright theft. rain, to homes without shelves, books fall apart. The Cost recovery is seen as an avenue toward sus- alternative is to keep books tightly under the control tainability, but whether it can succeed in poor coun- of the school or not to use them at all. In any event, all tries and whether it is desirable or even necessary textbooks eventually become obsolete as the curricu- are issues that are still being debated. In most coun- lum is revised. tries, textbooks are an almost insignificant fraction Annual provision, therefore, must be made to of the annual budget for recurring expenses in educa- replace lost or damaged copies. Copies also must be tion. For example, a survey of 166 government schools available annually to meet increases in enrollment- in Ethiopia found that, in 1994-95, salaries accounted the result not only of population growth, but also for 91.3 percent of running costs and instructional other Bank-assisted improvements in the education materials of all kinds for only 2.2 percent (KUAWAB system. 1996, 30). The continual need for book replenishment is normally recognized in the textbook subcomponent Market Size of education credits. The number of books procured The initial costs of a textbook are substantial. They is usually sufficient to achieve the target textbook- include manuscript development; fees or salaries for to-pupil ratio for current enrollments and provide authors, illustrators, and editors; typesetting; pre- for additional needs during the life of the project. testing and subsequent revision; and filmmaking, Economies of scale make such an approach desirable, plate making, and preprint press preparation. As a if not essential for most African borrowers. result, the unit price falls as the print run grows and Books are most often procured in one or two lots. significant economies of scale can be achieved in large The magnitude of such a purchase-amounting often orders. to several million dollars-may obscure the fact that Of the forty countries represented in this survey, the provision of textbooks is a recurring, rather than however, five have populations of less than 1 million, a capital, expense. If textbook provision is to be sus- and thirteen have populations of less than 5 million. tained, the borrowing government must begin pro- Only seven have populations greater than 20 million viding for replacement as soon as the initial distri- (see table 2.1). bution of books is complete. It may do so by budget- The achievement of quality in textbooks is just as ing annual allocations to a dedicated textbook fund difficult and expensive in small countries as it is in or by sharing the burden with students' families large; however, the pool of professional expertise is through sale or some form of loan or rental scheme. smaller and the unit cost of production will inevita- bly be higher unless especially cost-effective solutions Cost Recovery can be found. Financially pressed governments have been seeking Even in countries with a mid-sized population, to share some or all of the cost of textbook provision the trend toward mother tongue instruction in early with parents and communities. Various strategies primary grades is fragmenting the largest require- have been used, ranging from (a) outright delegation ment for textbooks and reducing print runs accord- WORLD BANK SUPPORT FOR PROVISION OF TEXTBOOKS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 1985-2000 17 Training Table 2.1 Short-term training, through workshops and study Estimated Population, July 2000 tours, can teach the principles of evaluation, writing, (millions) editing, illustration, design, and other publishing skills. To master them, however, takes continuous SaoTome Niger 10.0 practice under supervision. Several transnational and Prncipe 0.2 Senegal 10.0 companies have carried out this function in their Af- Cape Verde 0.4 rican branches, training local staff who might then Djibouti 0.5 Angola 10.1 go on to other publishers or start their own houses. Equatorial Guinea 0.5 Malawi 10.4 Some agencies have also provided continuous tech- Comoros 0.6 Mali 10.7 nical assistance: notably the Deutsche Gesellschaft Swaziland 1.0 Burkina Faso 12.0 fur Technische Zusammenarbeit, the Swedish Inter- Mauritius 1.2 Cameroon 15.4 national Development Cooperation Agency, which Guinea Bissau 1.3 Madagascar 15.5 calls itself "Sida," and, in lusophone countries, the Gambia 1.4 C6te d'lvoire 16.0 Gulbenkian Foundation. Botswana 1.6 Mozambique 19.1 Within civil services, it is often difficult to build Lesotho 2.1 Ghana 19.5 a well-trained publishing staff. Personnel may be Mauritania 2.7 appointed without consideration of previous qualifi- CentralAfrican Uganda 23.3 cations. Trained staff may be transferred to other de- Republic 3.5 Kenya 30.3 partments in routine rotation or seduced away by Sudan 35.1 better pay to the private sector. Governments change, Togo 5.0 Tanzania 35.3 and ministerial directive may disrupt or civil war Sierra Leone 5.2 Congo (Zaire) 52.0 destroy policies and a functioning team. Burundi 6.1 Ethiopia 64.1 Benin 6.4 Nigeria 123.1 Public or Private Provision Rwanda 7.2 Any or all of the publishing functions may be carried Somalia 7.3 out by either the state or the private sector. Table 2.2 Guinea 7.5 on the next page shows some of the possible combi- Chad 8.4 nations in increasing degree of liberalization (on a Zambia 9.6 scale of 1 to 6, from the least to the most liberalized). In recent years, several countries have liberalized Source: CIA World Factbook 2000. their procurement practices. Some have moved from total state monopoly to entirely private provision. ingly. In all countries, the price of secondary-level Division of responsibilities is not always clear textbooks is higher than that of primary-level ones, cut. Even where an MOE is the major purchaser, some not only because the subjects are more complex, but: copies may be sold through the retail market. In some also because smaller numbers of students are enrolled. countries, textbooks produced by a state agency are Where private sector publishers are expected to distributed entirely or substantially by sale through develop manuscripts to national curricula and con- ' commercial channels, such as wholesalers and small ditions, market size again is a factor., Commercial: vendors. publishers are more ready to make the necessary in- In the Bank's last major review of textbook assis- vestment in textbooks for large primary-level mar- tance, published in 1985, Barbara Searle identified kets than small ones and for books in core subjects, twenty variations in provision among forty-eight than in marginal ones. Where dropout rates are high,: projects in twenty-five countries worldwide (Searle they will be more interested in books for early pri- 1985: 9). During the following fifteen years, all the mary grades than for later ones. variations occurred in Sub-Saharan Africa. Experi- ence suggests that none of the permutations is per- 18 AFRICA REGION HUMAN DEVELOPMENT WORKING PAPER SERIES Table 2.2 Possible Mixes of Public and Private Sector Roles in Textbook Provision Country 1 2 3 4 5 6 Manuscript development X X X X X 0 Publishing X X X 0 0 0 Printing/Binding X 0 0 0 0 0 Distribution X X 0 X 0 0 X = Public sector 0 = Private sector. fect and what is best for one country may be unsuit- are more likely to be concerned about achieving able for another. economies and making use of professional skills than Where state institutions have written, produced, civil servants who have no personal stake in text- and distributed a single textbook for each subject- book provision. Of course, many civil servants are grade, the system generally has been found to be in- just as dedicated and professional, but even they may efficient and ineffective (e.g., Askerud 1997:57; Bgoya be overcome by the inertia of large bureaucracies. and others 1997: 21). Sida found that, in the programs Private sector publishing, it is also argued, is bi- it supported, "by and large government publishing ased toward cost recovery and, hence, sustainabil- has not functioned well. State-aided companies are ity. Because the private sector sells textbooks, it has frequently hampered by inefficient bureaucracy, un- funds to reinvest in the next year's sales. It also has a awareness of real costs, or lack of motivation on the powerful motivation-the need for financial turn- part of the staff" (Sida 1996: 15). over-to make that reinvestment. Books that are Hidden subsidies have masked true costs. Civil available this year, therefore, are likely to be avail- servants-often well versed in educational theory, able next year if this year's sales potential is realized. but unskilled in printing and publishing tech- Reality is slightly less rosy. The private sector niques-made decisions that might be pedagogically must recover the full cost of providing textbooks and appropriate, but unnecessarily costly. Books were make a profit. Its costs include overhead expenses, produced in uneconomical page sizes and wasteful including the cost of money. These costs are often designs. Distribution systems failed, because of inad- buried in departmental budgets when the state is the equate funding for transportation from regional ware- publisher. MOEs commonly treat the cost of textbooks houses to the schools. Functions were sometimes scat- as only the direct cost of manufacture, plus perhaps tered among different departments or units with little some of the costs of distribution. coordination. Personnel were poorly motivated to A survey of twenty-one Sub-Saharan African meet schedules or save money. Staff development and publishers in twelve countries found that, on aver- promotion followed civil service procedures, often age, the retail price of commercially published text- blind to publishing professionalism. Decisions re- books was three times the cost of manufacture (see flected economic or political priorities, rather than table 2.3 on the next page). sound publishing. Funding was principally by an The cost of privately published textbooks can annual legislative grant, making forward planning come as a shock to an MOE that has been budgeting difficult, if not impossible. The contents of textbooks for the cost of textbooks as only the cost of manufac- often reflected the values and policies of the govern- ture. The figures in table 2.3 on the next page suggest ment that controlled the purse strings and appoint- that, at the very least, publishing overheads and profit ments. will add 50 percent to the direct cost of manufacture. The private sector, it is argued, being profit moti- The unit cost can suddenly jump two times or more if vated, is leaner and more efficient. Entrepreneurs who multiple choice exists and publishers must pay au- are risking their own money or their shareholders' WORLD BANK SUPPORT FOR PROVISION OF TEXTBOOKS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 1985-2000 19 * Perform the same functions with respect to Table 2.3 teacher's guides and other instructional materi- Cost Structure of an Average als African Textbook . Train teachers in the use and care of textbooks (percent) and instructional materials . Protect intellectual property rights through ap- RETAIL PRICE 100 propriate legislation. Discount to booksellers 23 Payment to authors 11 Governments may also be expected to coordinate Production costs (raw materials, departmental policies affecting textbooks. This is not prepress work, printing, and binding) 32 always the case. Ministries of finance or industry may Marketing costs (promotion and selling) 9 impose high tariffs on imported paper and other raw Distrbution costs 9 materials, printing equipment, and replacement parts, Publishing overheads and profit (personnel, to the detriment of local printers and publishers. At management, finance, and profit) 16 the same time, finished textbooks are allowed to en- ter free of duty under the Florence Agreement (the Source: Bgoya and others (1997: 74). UNESCO-sponsored Agreement on the Importation of Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Materials). The thors and marketing costs. Appropriations rarely ministry of finance may regulate the availability of increase accordingly. foreign currency; the ministry of agriculture may Commercial firms are likely to concentrate their have some say in the importation of raw materials; sales efforts in the wealthier urban areas, where the and the ministry of culture may set language policies market is largest and easiest to reach, to the detri- and regulate publishing and printing. When no coor- ment of rural and marginalized areas of the country. dination exists among ministries in policy or regula- Good evidence also exists that, when the private sec- tion, the cost of providing schoolbooks generally rises. tor has a monopoly in textbook provision, it may find little reason to trim prices or improve the quality of Decentralization its products. This has occurred in Malawi and, even Until recently, education in most Sub-Saharan Afri- with state regulation of prices, in C6te d'Ivoire. can nations has been managed centrally through a national MOE. In countries with poor facilities for The State's Role in Textbook Provision communication, decisions made at the center take a The state has the final responsibility for the timely long time to effect and are not always based on needs and adequate provision of textbooks in any publicly perceived at the institutional or district level. funded educational system. It decides what textbooks Brickhill and Priestley found in 1993 that, in south- will be used, how they will be published, and how ern Africa, "as a general principle, the further the their cost will be paid. At a minimum, it may be ex- decisionmaking process is from the actual user of the pected to: material, the less efficiently the funds are used." O'Connor (1999: 117) agreed that textbook provision Prepare clear and detailed curriculum guidelines seemed more effective when selection was at the low- . Make them available for development of text- est possible rung of the education system. books A few countries, including Nigeria and Ghana, Establish an objective process of evaluation and have for a number of years decentralized some re- authorization of textbooks sponsibilities in educational administration. Other * Determine channels for financing and distribu- states have recently devolved responsibility to re- tion gions, districts, individual schools, or local bodies. * Set minimum physical standards of production 20 AFRICA REGION HUMAN DEVELOPMENT WORKING PAPER SERIES The Role of Local Stakeholders losophy, science, grammar, chemistry, biology, and In the 1990s the belief grew that all stakeholders in even the official calligraphy" (de Bedout 1999: 41). education should be involved in a function so impor- Multiple choice in textbooks fragments the mar- tant to the community-that the wishes of teachers, ket and reduces economies of scale. Competition may parents, students, parent-teacher groups, and non- moderate any consequent increases in price. Still, governmental organizations (NGOs) should be heard multiple choice is most likely to be practical only in and that some of these groups might be involved in countries with large school populations. Some Bank decisionmaking. In its ultimate expression, responsi- officials feel that the choice in any subject-level should bility would lodge in the schools; they should be able be restricted, perhaps to three titles. Such a policy to decide for themselves how to use substantial por- could, however, replace monopoly with oligopoly and tions of their allotted resources, often with the advice militate against additional innovation and competi- or management of committees of teachers, parents, tion. and/or students. The benefits of multiple choice require selection With increased responsibility, it was argued, more at the local or district level, where the needs, capaci- pragmatically, that communities would become more ties, and experience of students are best known. It active in caring for and maintaining their instruc- also requires significant preparation of teachers in tional resources and ensuring their proper use. More- the use of the books and in their selection. over, social demand for education increased when It must also be recognized that multiple choice communities were encouraged to manage schools opens the door to unofficial incentives in selection. In themselves. The inverse was also recognized. In Cen- the Philippines, corruption was thoroughly docu- tral African Republic, an estimated 30 percent of text- mented (Chua 1999) following the end of a state mo- books produced under a Bank credit was lost during nopoly in textbook provision. After two years of open and after political disturbances in the 1990s. Bank competition among local publishers and decentral- staff said that the basic reason for the loss was that ized choice, a new government reverted to central "parents do not consider schools, teaching equipment, procurement, this time using stringent procedures and school materials to be their responsibility."' and international competitive bidding. Multiple Choice in Textbooks National and International Provision The quality of a textbook determines how well it Large transnational companies owned and domiciled meets the needs of its users, and a good quality text- in Europe have historically provided textbooks to the book in a single-textbook system is probably better countries of Sub-Saharan Africa. They have several than several competing textbooks of poor quality. advantages: access to capital, years of experience in Many educators and publishers argue, however, that developing textbooks to international standards, and a multi-textbook system is inherently preferable be- expertise in developing new textbooks with local au- cause competition encourages publishers to innovate thors and in adapting existing textbooks to the re- and to improve their textbooks and teacher's guides. quirements and conditions of a specific African coun- Multiple choice also makes it possible for teach- try. They enjoy established contacts within minis- ers, head teachers, or district-level officials to choose tries and retail networks and can provide books the books best suited to their students' needs and ex- quickly and at internationally competitive prices. periences. Where only one textbook is available in a They can also offer quick economical solutions to im- subject-level, it has too often in the past incorporated mediate problems of textbook scarcity. urban activities and contexts that are unfamiliar to On the other hand, their expertise and interest students in rural communities. With multiple choice, are apt to be most focused on the lucrative core sub- books can be tailored to satisfy cultural and ethnic jects of the primary grades. In upper grades they may diversity. offer textbooks only in internationally "neutral" sub- Another argument for multiple choice is that a jects such as science and mathematics. They may lack single textbook produces "a mass of people desolately the capacity to develop and edit books in the local uniform, indoctrinated by the official history, phi- languages that are increasingly coming into use in early primary-level instruction. They may be insen- WORLD BANK SUPPORT FOR PROVISION OF TEXTBOOKS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 1985-2000 21 sitive to or unaware of local customs or beliefs. Most crucially, they are unlikely to invest their financial Later, she said that the underdevelopment of the book and human resources in publishing outside the prof- industry can be seen as a cause, as well as an out- itable textbook market. come, of educational underdevelopment. African na- Local publishers lack capital, and in most Sub- tions more recently voiced their aspirations for "cul- Saharan African countries, publishing skills are lim- tural stewardship" at a conference cosponsored by ited or nonexistent. In some countries, a previously the Bank in Florence in October 1999 (Nyambura thriving book trade has been devastated by the im- 1999). position of a state monopoly in textbook publishing- Not every country in Sub-Saharan Africa has the sometimes with help from international credits. Lo- population or the resources to support a publishing cal publishers have only a small share of the text- industry. Only two or three were thought in 1991 to book market, which accounts for 75 percent of pub- have a domestic market large enough to support a lishing revenue in Sub-Saharan Africa (Makotsi 1998: book industry, even in primary-level textbooks (Brit- 1); as a result, they have little ability to publish other ish Council 1992: 21). Many, however, have educa- works. tional systems large enough to support private sec- The significance of this situation extends beyond tor textbook publishing, usually with some initial the classroom. With the financial underpinning of a external support. Advances in desktop publishing significant and stable textbook market, iocal publish- have made it possible for even small companies to ers can venture into areas that foreign-owned pub- develop textbooks to the final stages before printing. lishers generally ignore. They can engage continu- Local publishers need not be locally owned, so ally and in depth in works of local fiction and poetry long as they are staffed by natives of the country and and in the works of nonfiction that define a country's originate books locally. Macmillan Kenya, for ex- understanding of its history, society, economy, ecol- ample, has a local managing director and a fully local ogy, and culture. These are books that help to develop staff, publishes what is appropriate for Kenya with- a sense of national identity and self-awareness. They out interference from a head office, trades with other can be written especially for children and young African countries, and retains all profits for new adults, who then have books to read that speak of projects in Kenya (Johnstone 1999: 102; Muita 1999: local experience, in place of cheap imports from Eu- 152-3). Is it a local or foreign publisher? Macmillan rope and India that now are commonly available. Kenya is an exception, however. Most branch offices The distinguished novelist Chinua Achebe has dis- are little more than sales agencies that generate few missed those imports as "poisons wrapped in be- economic benefits for their host country. tween beautiful covers." Locally published books help to reinforce, during and after schooling, the literacy Publishers' Access to Capital in which so much effort and financing have been in- Textbook publishing is a capital-intensive operation. vested. It typically takes three years for the entire process- African nations have shown a strong preference identifying authors, planning and writing the text- for national publishing of textbooks, especially at the book and accompanying teacher's guide, editing, pre- primary level. The minister of education of Zimba- testing in classrooms, printing, binding, and deliver- bwe made this point forcefully in the opening ad- ing the final product to the schools. With luck, it may dress at al conference on textbook provision and li- take less time, but more often it takes longer. During brary development held in 1991: this time, staff and office expenses must be met, pa- per and other materials bought, and printers paid. It would be a tragedy for Africa, African Although hard-pressed governments have been able publishing, and African education if the new to fund textbook development with the assistance of emphasis by donors on publishing will ultimately external aid, commercial publishers have difficulty benefit only well-established publishers in [the finding the necessary capital in countries where text- North]. Clearly, African publishers have a key book provision has been privatized. part to play in enhancing educational quality in Africa. 22 AFRICA REGION HUMAN DEVELOPMENT WORKING PAPER SERIES Banks anywhere are reluctant to lend money to of his excitement at visiting a primary school in Costa entrepreneurs in what they see as a high-risk, low- Rica: profit industry. A publisher's principal asset, stock in the warehouse, is rarely accepted as security: pa- I [went] with President Arias, to see in practice per ceases to be collateral the moment it is printed. the pledge he had made to provide computers to Interest rates on loans that can be secured are puni- half of all primary schools ... I marvelled at this tive, as high as 40 percent per year. Governments in practical example of bringing the frontiers of turn are slow to pay for textbooks, sometimes taking education to primary students and adults a year or more to meet obligations. Booksellers are throughout Costa Rica within four years. also slow in paying for books sold to them on credit. But how can you afford it I asked? His reply- Private sector publishers, especially small ones, if you don't spend money on a military, you have are thus caught between two "hard rocks," unre- enough in hand to afford good education for all. sponsive lenders and nonpaying customers. The scar- This is the challenge for every country-and a city of capital may be the single biggest obstacle to practical example of how saving money on the the growth of domestic African publishing industries. military bills can produce much of the finance required (Jolly 1996). The Totality of the Book Chain Instructional and learning materials cannot be con- The International Commission on Education for sidered independently, but only as part of a process the 21st Century (1996: 165) recommended that, as a involving many players and policy issues. A school- rule of thumb, not less than 6 percent of gross na- book is part of a continuum that begins with the tional product should be devoted to education. It be- student's needs, as defined by a curriculum institute, lieved that all need not come from govemment-that and ends with the student's use, inside or outside the it is not only justifiable, but desirable to raise money classroom. In between are the many steps previously from private sources to ease the pressure on national discussed. budgets. Private funding can come from a variety of Failures in planning and coordination will ad- sources, including fees, although the ability of fami- versely affect the provision of textbooks and learning lies and students to pay varies from country to coun- materials. Extemal support will be meaningful only try. But, the commission emphasized, recourse to pri- if it is rooted in detailed strategic plans, not on gen- vate funding cannot release states from their finan- eral policy statements. cial responsibilities, especially toward the most se- verely disadvantaged ethnic minorities or the inhab- Government Capacity and Political Will itants of remote regions. The Finance Advisory Com- World Bank staff members, to judge by project mittee of the Organization of African Unity Confer- completion reports, are eternal optimists who are far ence of African Ministers of Education has also rec- too frequently disappointed in the implementation ommended that member states allocate a minimum of their programs. Many of the problems they iden- of 25 percent of their budgets and 6 percent of gross tify relate to local capacity to manage overly ambi- domestic product to education, that a minimum of 50 tious project designs or seemingly complex proce- percent of education budgets should be allocated to dures. Projects have also suffered from recurrent primary education, and that the proportion of edu- changes in ministers or in governments, civil unrest cation budgets allocated to learning materials should and other conflict, and natural disasters. be increased to 14 percent (KUAWAB 1996: 30). Ultimately, however, the adequate provision of textbooks and learning materials is a matter of na- tional political priorities and political will. Richard Education Rehabilitation and Development Project (Cr 1863- Jolly, special adviser to the administrator of the United Nations Development Program, has spoken World Bank Policies In its early ventures into textbook provision, the . Inadequately providing the necessary institu- World Bank focused on capital investment in prod- tional arrangements so that the many parts of ucts, rather than capacity building in publishing. The the book provision system are adequately coor- achievement, measured in numbers of books provided dinated. to schools, was substantial. Under the three largest projects alone, in Ethiopia, Indonesia, and the Philip- Since 1985 those shortcomings have been addressed pines, more than 350 million books were printed. by various practices and policies. Worldwide, between 1973 and 1985, forty-eight Until 1991 the Bank depended entirely on out- projects financed some aspect of book provision. A side consultants for expertise in textbook provision. majority of the projects supported state activity in That year, it hired a full-time textbook specialist, an textbooks. Many simply provided printing equip- African with experience in both publishing and in- ment and raw materials. These were learning years, ternational development. He has since assisted in the and by the end of the period, several shortcomings design and implementation of projects in many Afri- had been identified (Searle 1985: 2): can countries. A trial set of standard bidding documents espe- * Failing to establish a capacity for continuous sup- cially for textbook procurement was issued in 1994. ply of books Those documents addressed Searle's concern about * Providing support for only a small part of the quality and appropriateness. They included a merit textbook provision system, usually printing, point system that judged each bidder on its qualifi- thereby overloading the capacity of other parts cations and capacity and each submission on its pre- of the system, for example, distribution or teacher sentation, compliance with the borrower's educa- training tional objectives, and price. The standard documents * Giving inadequate attention to the quality and proved unsatisfactory, however. Bidding documents appropriateness of the books provided since then have been prepared for individual projects. * Underestimating the difficulties associated with A new set of procedures and bidding documents is procurement of paper or books, for which stan- currently being drafted. dard bank procurement procedures are often in- In March 2001, after considerable review, an appropriate eleven-page Operational Policy on Textbooks and * Underestimating the difficulties associated with Reading Materials was approved and adopted by the book distribution, which is hampered particu- Education Sector Board. Its principles are: larly by poor information flow between the pe- riphery and the center 24 AFRICA REGION HUMAN DEVELOPMENT WORKING PAPER SERIES * Adherence to legal and other measures for pro- Bank lending, for every book purchased from local tecting copyright and other intellectual property publishers, fifty books are bought from foreign-based rights ones (Nwankwo 1999:142). * Articulation of agreed roles of the public and pri- In addition, the president of the African Publish- vate sectors in the development, production, and ers Network has argued that the savings obtained equitable distribution of textbooks and reading by buying overseas may be illusory. materials * Maintenance of transparent and competitive pro- A book purchase made on the basis of a one-off cesses in the selection or purchase of books for cost import is not a good bargain when we educational use or for contracting publishing or consider: the opportunity cost of jobs lost to the printing services economy, since the book was not produced * Commitment to long-term financing of book de- locally; the cost of discouraged innovative velopment and provision trading, which would have resulted from higher * Assurance that cost will not be an obstacle for turnover and increased profitability; the cost of poor students' access to textbooks and reading capacity not built; and the cost of lost spillover materials. benefits, which in turn would have invigorated the textbook industry. As a result, these books The strategies employed in various textbook are not cheap (Nwankwo 1999: 141). projects and the extent of their success will be exam- ined in following chapters. This one reviews some of Whatever its flaws, the system of procurement, the most important underlying policy issues. mainly through ICB, has provided or is providing more than 350 million textbooks for Sub-Saharan Procurement Africa through the projects reviewed. This is no mean The guidelines in Procurement under IBRD Loans and IDA feat on a continent that has been described as suffer- Credits (World Bank 1999) require orders above a cer- ing a book famine. The policy has also proved flexible tain value to be procured through international com- enough to accommodate the transition in many Sub- petitive bidding (ICB). This is probably the most pub- Saharan African countries during the 1990s from cen- licly controversial aspect of textbook provision. tralized state dominance in textbook provision to- Proponents argue that ICB ensures that nations ward liberalization, decentralization, and multiple get the best value for the money they borrow from choice. the Bank. It encourages them to benefit from interna- tional standards and expertise in textbook develop- Liberalization ment. In her operational review of textbook projects in 1985, Critics complain that ICB favors foreign publish- Barbara Searle remarked (p. 36) that the most diffi- ers over local ones and supports continuing cultural cult decision facing governments seeking to improve colonialism. They argue that national publishers are book provision is whether to publish books or pur- forced into a "Catch-22" cycle. They cannot compete chase them, either locally or abroad. The Bank's cur- effectively for textbook contracts against the exper- rent state of knowledge regarding tradeoffs between tise and capital of large transnational publishers, but the two strategies, she concluded, was inadequate, to get the necessary capital or expertise, they need and she recommended additional study of the ques- the financial underpinning of textbook contracts. tion. There are exceptions. Local publishers in both Eight pages earlier, she had concluded that the Nigeria (which has a long-established publishing in- most straightforward way to coordinate all the con- dustry) and Mali (which does not) have won compe- stituent activities of book provision was through a titions for textbooks under World Bank projects single agency that housed textbook development, against foreign-owned firms. The African Publishers production, and distribution under one roof and one Network (APNET) has, nevertheless, estimated that, manager. In its most extreme form, the printing itself in book procurement programs supported by World WORLD BANK SUPPORT FOR PROVISION OF TEXTBOOKS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 1985-2000 25 was carried out within the MOE or in another state from private sector) or to produce (usually as a or parastatal agency. government publisher) ... Where the govern- At the time, most countries in Sub-Saharan Af- ment requires textbooks to be produced or dis- rica procured their textbooks centrally, buying a tributed by a state monopoly or a parastatal single title for each subject-level, and in most, the agency, the cost of compliance with such a re- state acted as both publisher and distributor. This quirement should be calculated. A thorough fi- strategy seems still to have been considered desir- nancial analysis of the agency should be made, able, if not, inevitable, in a volume published for the as the agency may not be operating economi- Bank six years later (Lockheed and Verspoor 1991: cally. The issue should be raised as a serious 128): constraint to Bank support. Cost-effective prag- matism, rather than political dogmatism, and Developing sustainable capacity for creating, movement away from uneconomical public en- testing, producing, and distributing student terprises toward more efficient contracting with learning materials-as well as teacher guides the private sector should be in evidence for Bank and in-service training materials-requires a financing to be offered ... significant commitment of the central ministry's resources. Experience in Bangladesh, China, Today, several countries have liberalized their Ethiopia, and the Philippines suggests that procurement practices. The state there has with- textbook agencies, whether autonomous or drawn, partially or totally, from textbook provision. divisions of the (national or federal) education ministry, are essential to establishing and Support of Local Book Industries sustaining a program of materials development The Bank's policy on procurement is to achieve the . . .Even small countries, where publishing best value for money, whether books are obtained industries are relatively weak, because the nationally or internationally. Its guiding principles, market, for textbooks is small, may have to set however, include an interest, as a development insti- up a clearly defined unit for developing tution, in encouraging the development of domestic instructional materials; carrying out the design, industries (World Bank 1999: 2). The 1987 policy docu- development, and testing necessary to achieve ment on education in Sub-Saharan Africa more con- high quality; and managing the storage and cretely recommended that: distribution of materials. An objective common to all African countries Zimbabwe and Nigeria were among the few African should be to develop national skills to adapt and nations that permitted multiple choice in an open edit materials. For most countries, in addition, market in which schools chose the texts they would enhanced capacity to write and publish such use from a list of government-approved titles materials is a feasible short-term objective. (p. (Rathgeber 1992: 87-88, British Council'1992: 8). 50) The Bank has since gradually adopted a new po- sition, enunciated in paragraph 18 of its Operational In practice, most of the textbooks the Bank has Policy on Textbooks and Reading Materials adopted funded have come from overseas. Like several bilat- in 2001. eral donor agencies that support domestic publish- ing in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Bank has been anx- Private sector initiative and competitive pro- ious to provide good quality books immediately with- cesses for the development, production, and out waiting the years it takes to develop an effective delivery of textbooks and reading materials are and broadly based indigenous publishing industry. indispensable components of sustainable book The Bank does not, of course, set policies unilat- provision systems. Where this state has not yet erally. Nwankwo (1996: 26) recognized that educa- been achieved, transitional measures may be tion credits are negotiated with a national govern- put in place, for options to purchase (usually ment. It is the borrower who selects consultants and 26 AFRICA REGION HUMAN DEVELOPMENT WORKING PAPER SERIES implements procurement. Few governments fully percent of the bid price. It does no more, at best, than understand or are sympathetic to the role of indig- level the playing field. enous publishers. Ministers of education have gener- To qualify for domestic preference, a supplier must ally been eager for the votes that come with the prom- be able to attribute more than 30 percent of the bid ise of free books in the coming year (Newton in Sosale price to the cost of labor, raw materials, and compo- 1999: 158). nents from within the country. But paper, cover board, The importance of local publishing industries is film, plates, ink, and binding adhesives must be im- recognized in the Bank's new Operational Policy on ported in most Sub-Saharan African countries, Textbooks and Reading Materials (paragraph 19), but whereas labor is relatively inexpensive. Paper alone with the caveat that benefits from local procurement often exceeds 50 percent of the manufacturing cost should outweigh any increase in price: and in some cases may be as high as 80 percent (Bgoya and others 1997: 62 and 74). In primary and secondary education, concern Publishers dependent on imported paper are for the appropriateness of reading materials for hard pressed, therefore, to qualify for domestic pref- students is usually expressed in terms of de- erence. In countries where paper is manufactured lo- gree of local content, favoring locally developed cally, it often does not meet the Bank's technical speci- materials, or a percentage of the curriculum, fications for weight, brightness, or durability or is which can be determined at the district or school more expensive than paper available to bidders out- level. Further, developing local publishing ca- side the country because of protective tariffs. pacity provides reading materials to audiences The Bank has recently extended the margin of beyond those of the school system, reinforcing preference to all suppliers within an economic region the reading habit. If books will be acquired only if the borrowing government agrees. This could have from local publishers, the educational benefit significant implications for countries with publish- derived from such local acquisition should clear- ing industries. For example, Nigeria, which is adopt- ly be shown to outweigh the possibly higher pric- ing French as a second language, could be treated as a es, which represent the extra cost of protecting domestic supplier in an international competition to local industry. The benefit should also outweigh supply textbooks to Senegal and Nigeria's other the loss of opportunity to benefit from the new francophone neighbors. materials and innovative teaching approaches The Bank has also taken some steps to recognize offered by international textbooks, especially the capital-intensive nature of publishing and the those in subjects that "travel" well, such as sci- difficulty publishers in Sub-Saharan Africa have in ence or mathematics . . . Appraisal must estab- raising capital. Contracts for textbook provision gen- lish that, publishing origin notwithstanding, the erally provide for an advance payment of 30 percent appropriate material in terms of content and of the bid price, rather than the 10 percent normally physical manufacture will be acquired at the least granted. On one occasion, in Mali, the Bank has ac- cost to the individual student or to the govern- cepted a guaranteed credit from a printer in place of ment. the cash performance security normally required from a successful bidder. On another occasion, in Ni- The Bank's procurement guidelines allow a mar- geria, when considerable amounts of paper were re- gin of preference to domestic suppliers in the evalua- quired and paper was globally in short supply, the tion of bids under ICB. In the case of textbooks, the Bank agreed to start the publishing schedule only allowance recognizes that local publishers may have from the date that paper was delivered to the printer. to pay duty on imported raw materials, while com- The Bank's Office of the Publisher recently opened petitive imported books enter duty free under the an African Publishing Initiative that marries the Florence Agreement. This domestic preference is lim- Bank's own publishing activities with local publish- ited, however, to the value of duties and other import ers. To date it has concluded agreements for charges that a local manufacturer has to pay to pro- copublication of Bank publications in S6n6gal and duce the books concerned, up to a maximum of 15 Mali and arranged a publication grant for health- related books in Uganda. It plans to license rights to WORLD BANK SUPPORT FOR PROVISION OF TEXTBOOKS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 1985-2000 27 publish Bank titles of special African interest in sev- in education are under way in Ethiopia, The Gambia, eral other countries (Akporji 2000). Mozambique, and Zambia (World Bank 2001b). A viable publishing industry requires people with Early this year a new document (World Bank professional skills, adequate investment capital, ef- 2001a) predicted that without a major leap in educa- fective distribution systems, and a market large tion at the national level, Africa will not achieve the enough to pay for the books it produces. African pub- target of universal primary education by 2015 and lishing generally is deficient in all four areas. To play that the shortfall will be as great as 55 million chil- a greater role in textbook provision, African publish- dren. To achieve the target, the authors argue, will ers require short- and medium-term nurturing. Bank not only take money, but adequate responses from projects have financed training in authorship and in national governments involving bold, sectorwide the various professional skills of publishing. In re- frameworks for reform and strategic priorities that cent years, that training has been more and more are country specific to meet the diversity of the Afri- opened to the private sector without charge. can context. The authors recommend, more concretely, that Current Policy Initiatives governments move to: In 1997 the Bank introduced the Learning and Inno- vation Loan, designed to provide structured support * Explore alternatives to existing service delivery for small, time-sensitive projects. Learning and In- approaches that are currently based on assump- novation Loans involved up to US$5 million for con- tions that are inappropriate in much of Africa sultant services, small works, goods, and equipment . Move planning and resource allocation in many in a two- to four-year period. They were intended to cases from central ministries to local offices and pilot promising development initiatives or test lo- community organizations cally based models before large-scale interventions. * Allocate adequate resources to nonsalary items They provided for intensive monitoring and evalua- . Share responsibility for financing and providing tion. Special attention was to be given to the schooling strategically among governments, borrower's capacity and the local stakeholders' re- private providers, and NGOs sponse. Approval was vested in the Bank's regional vice-presidents to speed decisions, and the target for They also recommend that governments commit preparation was only three months. themselves to: The Bank simultaneously began extending the length and breadth of education projects through a * A relentless pursuit of quality strategy known as the "sectorwide approach" * An unwavering commitment to equity (SWAP). The approach is characterized by a well- * A willingness to make tough choices to ensure defined, government-led partnership with key exter- financial sustainability nal partners, close and continual coordination among * An up-front emphasis on institution strengthen- donors, consultation with local stakeholders, and ing, including providing effective incentives, rea- capacity building in government institutions that will sonable rules, efficient organizational structures, implement programs. and competent staff. The typical SWAP looks ahead 10 to 15 years in a comprehensive policy framework. It defines strate- These recommendations may all be applied to text- gies for the medium term (about five years) and trans- book provision and may be expected to inform the lates these strategies into programs of specific inter- design of projects that involve textbooks and other ventions in the near term (two to three years). SWAPs learning-instructional materials in the future. IV Project Design and Implementation: Textbook Development Textbook development comprises conception, writ- Manuscript Preparation ing, editing, design, illustration, pretesting, and evalu- In forty-five of the eighty-nine projects identified, ation of a new textbook, the accompanying teacher's responsibility for authorship was lodged entirely in guide, and related instructional materialsrecognized the MOE or one of its agencies (usually a curriculum all the steps before manufacture. These processes de- development center or national institute of pedagogy). termine whether a future book adheres to the cur- Several of these ministries or agencies commissioned riculum, is complete and accurate, is appropriate for authors in the private sector to write the textbooks the intended readers, and is likely to stimulate stu- prepared under their aegis. In twenty-nine projects, dents to greater learning. books were procured entirely from private sector Textbooks are country-sensitive national respon- publishers, who commissioned the authors of their sibilities. Bank interventions in this area have prin- textbooks. In nine, an MOE developed some textbooks cipally been of three kinds: in-house and purchased others from the private sec- tor. In six projects, the textbook component was never * Providing technical assistance in training au- implemented or it was impossible to determine re- thors, editors, designers, illustrators, and evalu- sponsibility for authorship. ators As might be expected, private sector publishers * In competitive bidding, ensuring that all quali- were more prominent in countries with larger popu- fied submissions meet an established standard lations, which because of their size promise a better of quality, and ranking those that qualify in or- return on investment in manuscript development der of merit and marketing (see figure 4.1). Private publishers * In countries that allow multiple choice in text- were also more active than ministries in projects at books, ensuring that all books supported by IDA the tertiary level and marginally more active at the funding meet established standards of quality. secondary level, reflecting the more specialized and "neutral" nature of some textbooks at the upper lev- Manuscript development frequently, but not al- els (see figure 4.2). Tertiary provision was almost en- ways, follows Bank-assisted curriculum revision. tirely for library replenishment, almost always with There has been a trend in revision to reduce the num- imported books. (The number of projects in figure 4.2 ber of subjects taught and to reduce the amount of is more than eighty-nine, because several projects material to be covered. These changes are intended to assisted the provision of books at more than one level.) improve teaching quality. They have the additional State-run manuscript development was ham- effect of reducing textbook costs. pered in some countries by scarcity of qualified staff, competing pressures on resources, resistance to 30 AFRICA REGION HUMAN DEVELOPMENT WORKING PAPER SERIES Figure 4.1 Responsibility for Development, by Population Projects 20 ; . ~~~~~~~~~~~Public,_ 15 _ | X i ~~~~~~~~~~~~Both _ 10 _ m __L <5 5-10 10-20 >20 Population (millions) Fig. 4.2 Responsibility for Development, by Level Projects 30 - . . 25 - Public _ _ u ~~~~~~~~~~Private_ _ [II1 ~~~~~~~Both 20- - __.______________________________... . 15 10 0 1111mm __ ___ Primary P & S Secondary Tertiary Note: Responsibility is not the same as authorship. Increasingly during the review period, public sector agencies commissioned textbooks from private sector authors. WORLD BANK SUPPORT FOR PROVISION OF TEXTBOOKS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 1985-2000 31 change, and/or the complexity of the task. On several nology. Many staff members, once trained, were at- occasions, local capacity was overestimated during tracted by higher salaries in the private sector. appraisal. Several ministries have commissioned private Achievements against such odds could still be re- authors to write textbooks for them. The authors are markable, as in The Gambia, one of Africa's smallest often retired teachers or teachers writing on their states. The project benefited from four elements in its own time, perhaps during a vacation period. In many design: (a) the MOE formed teams of teachers, inspec- countries, they are chosen by competition on the ba- tors, and trainers to revise the curriculum during the sis of sample texts they have drafted. The authors are summer of 1990 and thereafter write new textbooks or usually paid a flat fee for their work. A system of adapt existing ones, (b) team members were paid a fee royalties based on sales revenue, as in commercial for attending meetings and writing in their spare time, publishing, would be too complex to administer. (c) an MOE printing unit contracted outside the coun- In Burkina Faso, manuscript development was try for editing, design, and printing that was beyond originally assigned to writing teams from the peda- its capacity, and (d) training was provided to authors gogical institute. When little was achieved, the MOE and printing unit staff. Fewer books were revised than contracted with private authors selected on the ba- originally envisioned, yet some 500,000 revised text- sis of submitted sample work. In this manner, forty- books were produced and- delivered to the schools by four textbooks and teacher's guides were developed the autumn of 1995.1 and put on the market. The use of private authors In a number of other instances of public sector de- was credited with reducing the average writing time velopment throughout the review period, work fell far from 12 to 6 months.5 behind schedule. For exarnple: The cost of textbook development can be inordi- nately high for countries with small populations and * Almost nine years after the start of a project in limited resources. That appears to have been the case Benin, only twelve of thirty-six planned manu- in Comoros, a cluster of islands in the Mozambique scripts had been given to the printer and only four Channel. After several years of trying to develop had been delivered to the schools. Delays were books locally, the country decided to buy textbooks blamed in part on negotiations for cofunding and in core subjects that had been developed elsewhere in part on ministry officials who preferred to work for francophone Africa, using 1CB.6 with established French publishers.2 Sao Tome e Principe, like The Gambia, has been * In Niger, it took the national pedagogic institute more successful in meeting the challenge of size. With about five years to deliver the first new textbook a population of only 200,000, it is the smallest coun- under a project, because staff first had to be trained. try in the region and recognizes that having its own The institute's capacity had been overestimated at textbooks will always be expensive. But, because it is appraisal.3 part of the relatively small and scattered Portuguese- * In Angola, staff were trained in textbook develop- speaking African community, it believes that im- ment under an IDA credit and successfully retained,, ported books will either be unsuited to local teaching yet, curriculum reform and new teaching materi- needs or expensive in design and production. als lagged behind schedule. The MOE suggested that Two elements contributed to the success of Sao one reason for the delay was that the education' Tome e Principe. First, it minimized printing costs by project did not top up salaries of staff performingl simplifying technical specifications for locally devel- their regular duties. Salaries had been topped up! oped books. Second, the Gulbenkian Foundation pro- under a concurrent project in another sector.4 vided technical assistance in manuscript develop- ment and in identifying competitive international In many countries, editors, designers, and produc- printers. IDA financed printing and distribution to tion staff were trained in desktop composition. The some 22,000 primary students, who had been virtu- training did not always recognize the continuing diffi- ally without textbooks.7 culties in fully exploiting the potential of this new tech- 32 AFRICA REGION HUMAN DEVELOPMENT WORKING PAPER SERIES Even the best-run state operation is politically of French, in spite of pedagogic arguments to the con- vulnerable. In Sierra Leone, Bank credit created an trary and its trade connections with anglophone East effective publishing capacity in the Textbook Africa. The government of Mali, where 80 percent of Taskforce, a department of the MOE. Staff were trained the population speaks Bambara, is willing to accept locally and overseas in editing, design, and produc- the cost of publishing in print runs of only a few hun- tion and were heavily involved in pilot testing, evalu- dred copies for the smaller linguistic groups, lest na- ation, and distribution of textbooks08 By 1990 they tional unity be endangered. were acting as local editors for books that were Political decisions may, however, be tempered by printed overseas and were developing their own finances. In Ethiopia, nineteen languages are used in supplementary materials and teacher's guides classrooms. Because educational administration has (Buchan and others 1991: 113). In the next year, the been decentralized, each region produces its own text- continuing civil war broke out. Most of the institu- books, adapting curricula and syllabi that have been tional investment and expertise has been lost. drafted centrally. Regions planned to write a text- book in the main language used within their borders, Language of Instruction then translate that book into other locally used lan- The transition to mother tongue instruction has not guages. As a result, a textbook in Amharic might be been smooth. In Mali, for example, bilingual educa- different in each region. During negotiations for a cur- tion was introduced in some 300 widely dispersed rent project, Bank officers pointed out the technical schools in 1994. The approach was ad hoc, however, and financial implications of duplicated effort, not to and the quality of textbooks poor. There was consid- mention the loss of economies of scale.'1 Some regional erable resistance to mother tongue instruction among educational offices are now studying alternatives. rural peasants, who saw it as second-rate education These include finding linguistic links that would al- keeping them from better-paying jobs and higher low them to pool resources in common teaching ma- education. It was resisted also by more educated par- terials. ents, who complained that it lacked good mathemat- ics and reading programs. A current IDA project has Evaluation been designed specifically to develop better quality Only a small fraction of project reports mentioned textbooks for this pedagogie convergente and to assess procedures for evaluating the contents of textbooks the program's educational and financial sustainabil- provided under the credit. A few countries used the ity.9 same state agency that created the manuscripts to Considerable preparation is required as well as evaluate them. In others, among them Lesotho and new textbooks. Teachers may have to be taught to Malawi, a state agency commissioned private au- work in languages in which little has been printed. thors and evaluated their work for use. In Mauritania, The first step in piloting instruction in two local lan- a separate committee approved manuscripts pre- guages in Mozambique was to identify experienced, pared by the national pedagogical institute, but only qualified teachers who were native speakers of each after a full year of pretesting in classrooms. language, but they were unfamiliar with its written Mozambique is using a similar separation of respon- form and then had to be trained in reading and writ- sibilities. Under a project in Comoros, selection of ing it.'0 books was delegated to a foreign consultant. In urban centers, mother tongue instruction may Some projects have specifically included train- be impractical. Zambia has seven national languages. ing in evaluation. The training was not always car- They are relatively separate geographically, but all ried out on schedule. are represented in the capital Lusaka. No matter what policy is introduced, English as a lingua franca will * In Benin, staff in three divisions of the MOE were have to continue as the language of instruction in to be trained in evaluation under a credit ap- Lusaka. proved in 1994, but by the mid-term review in The choice of language of instruction is ultimately 1998, no training had been organized. Outside political as well as pedagogic. Madagascar aban- evaluators were secured through advertisement. doned its national language for instruction in favor WORLD BANK SUPPORT FOR PROVISION OF TEXTBOOKS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 1985-2000 33 Four MOE staff finally received training one year English textbook before the end of the school year. On before the credit's scheduled closing.'2 average, classes in rural schools were at unit 9 when * In S6n6gal, the Bank was to finance 18 months of their counterparts in urban schools were at unit 18. technical assistance in setting book specifica- tions, evaluating bids, and evaluating textbooks. Intellectual Property Rights The only training actually given was in procure- Chapter 2 discussed the risk arising when govern- ment and distribution. S6n6gal still has no ad- ments share or transfer their intellectual rights in equate capacity in textbook evaluation. The fail- textbooks. The situation has occurred only occasion- ure of this aspect of the project is not mentioned ally, but has always caused difficulties. More often, in the implementation completion report, which but still infrequently, the printer balks at returning focused on problems in cost recovery and distri- the film. bution.'3 * In Niger, the govermment shared copyright in text- Evaluation of content is essentially subjective, but books it had developed with three commercial Bank staff have helped borrowers devise various publishers. When it came time to reprint under a ways to apply quantitative measures. Extracts from Bank-financed project, the government asked for one such checklist appear in box 4.1 on the next page; rights to be retumed to the MOE. Two agreed. the complete checklist contains seventy-nine ques- The third refused, and in the subjects held by tions, with explanatory passages and room for com- that publisher, the MOE developed new titles.'5 ments."4 Forms of this kind are used in bid evalua- * In Togo, the MOE granted rights to textbooks pro- tion. They are also used in establishing duced under one project.'6 Later, it tried to regain prequalification in countries that have opted for mul- those rights to procure through ICB under a fol- tiple choice in textbooks. Not even the best-devised low-up project. The publishers refused. The gov- form, however, can preclude human fallibility, either emient lost its investment and bought books in the appointment of evaluators or in their commis- off the shelf. sion of their function. * In Malawi, the government gave the local branch An intensive USAID-funded study of schools in of a transnational publisher exclusive worldwide Ghana (Harris and others 1997) illustrates how diffi- publishing rights for English and mathematics cult it is, even with evaluation, to produce textbooks textbooks developed by the Malawi Institute of that will meet the needs of all children in a large na- Education (MIE). The agreement ran for ten years tion. The textbooks used in the schools contained sto- with possible renewal and without provision for ries and examples relevant to Ghanaian life, and the termination. It included "incentives": two to three pictures showed scenes typical of different parts of training courses per year in the United Kingdom the country. Teachers felt that the everyday situa- for employees of the MOE and MIE at the tions encouraged reading and understanding. Not all: company's expense, plus one-eighth of the capi- agreed that the textbooks were suited for their class., tal of the branch and a seat on the board of direc- Some said the children in their school were slower or' tors to the MOE and MIE free of charge. Following less prepared than the intended readers. Others, es- complaints from other Malawian publishers, the pecially those from rural schools, felt the vocabulary Bank investigated the situation. MOE and MIE was too difficult and that concepts outside the: officials agreed to negotiate an end to the agree- children's experience (for example, electricity) should: ment.1? have been left until later. Several complained thati the passages were too long or that topics should be' Summary of Best Practices broken up to sustain interest. The teachers who found the level of difficulty appropriate for their students Manuscript preparation: tended to come from urban schools. Some had had special training and were more able to adapt instruc- * Manuscripts are written by private authors and tion to meet the needs of fast and slow readers. Few not by MOE staff as part of their official duties.'8 teachers were likely to complete more than half the 34 AFRICA REGION HUMAN DEVELOPMENT WORKING PAPER SERIES Box 4.1 Nigeria: Sample Criteria in a Checklist for Evaluating Primary Textbooks This instrument is a checklist made up of six major categories of criteria. Under each, rate the following statements. On a five-point scale, use 1 as the lowest and 5 as the highest rating. A. PRODUCTION, DESIGN, AND ILLUSTRATION 1. The cover design arouses interest. 2. The layout of texts and illustrations arouses interest and is clear. 3. The print is easy to read at the stage for which it is intended in terms of size of type and spacing between the lines. 4. The sophistication of the illustrations matches the sophisticafion of the text. 5. The illustrations positively contribute to the leaming process. 6. The illustrations positively contribute to the development of desirable attitudes. 7. The book is supplemented by appropriate teachers' guides. B. SUBSTANCE 1. The substance of the book is up to date and in keeping with the National Curriculum. 2. The substance is correct and relevant. 3. The subject matter is broken down into units that are manageable by the pupils. 4. The precision of the definitions is of the level of the course. 5. The material is free of comments and pictorial materials that may be offensive in a multicultural/multireligious society. 6. The materials treat historical and cultural aspects of ethnic groups within the society in a fashion that promotes mutual respect among the pupils and teachers. C. TOPICS 1. The topics are appropriate to the interests of the pupils. 2. The topics fit the specific objectives of the course. 3. The topics follow the topics of the previous class and flow into the topics of the following class. 4. The topics are suitable for pupils of the given age range. D. LANGUAGE 1 .Vocabulary is presented in a fashion that brings out the meaning. 2. Figurative language used is within the pupils' understanding. 3. The vocabulary used is within the vocabulary range appropriate to the class intended. 4. The material is presented in manageable units of length. E. METHODS 1. The methods employed in the book motivate pupils to leam. 2. Concepts are introduced at a pace appropriate to the pupils. 3. Concepts are reinforced at frequent intervals by appropriate activities. 4. The sequencing of the material is appropriate to the subject. 5. The methods treat teachers and pupils as fellow inquirers. 6. The methods involve the use of environmental resources and of resource persons in the home and community. 7. The methods lie within the capabilities of the teachers. F. EVALUATION 1. Evaluation procedures are an integral part of the course. 2. The procedures enable the teacher to identify areas of the subject that need review. 3. The procedures enable the teacher to identify pupils who need individual attention. 4. The methods lie within the capabilities of the teachers. WORLD BANK SUPPORT FOR PROVISION OF TEXTBOOKS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 1985-2000 35 * Teams of authors are used to obtain separate ex- accuracy; and completeness and presentation of pertise in the curriculum, the subject, effective the accompanying teacher's guide.28 teaching, and effective writing.'9 * Authors are selected on the basis of submitted. 'SecondEducation Sector Project (Cr 2142-GM). samples of work, using criteria similar to those 2 Second Education Credit (Cr 1246-BEN). samples ~~~~~~~~~~~Primary Education Development Project (Cr 1740-NIR). that will be used in evaluating final manuscripts 4 First Education Project (Cr 2375-ANG). during bid submission or prequalification3.25 Fourth Education Project (Cr 1598-BUR). * Authors are trained through workshops in the 6 Second Education Project (Cr 175 1-COM). 7 First Multisector Project (Cr 2038-STP). skills of textbook preparaton, including use of Third Education Project (Cr 1353). examples, illustrations, and exercises.2' 9 Improving Learning in Primary Schools (Cr 33 18-MLI). * Authors are paid a reasonable fee on completion "' Second Education Project (Cr2200-MOZ). of a manuscript.22 " Education Sector Development Program (Cr 3077-ET). • Technical specifications-including page'size, 12 Education Development Project (Cr 2613-BEN). Tchncalspeiig page size, 1 Second Human Resources Deveiopment Project (Cr 2473-SE). number of pages, number of illustrations, and 14 Primary Education Project (Cr 2191-UNI), National Primary use of color-are designed to minimize printing Education Commission Checklist of criteria for evaluating costs.23 primary education. Basic Education Sector Project (Cr 2618-NIR). 16 Education Rehabilitation Project (Cr 2752-TO). Language of instruction: 17 Second Education Sector Credit (Cr 2083-MAI). 1 For example, Burkina Faso: Fourth Education Project (Cr 1598- * When necessary, teachers are given special train- BUR), 11For example, The Gambia: Second Education Sector Project ing in reading and writing local languages for (2152-GM). which little printed material has been available.24 20 For example, Burkina Faso: Fourth Education Project (Cr 1598- * Governments are encouraged to pool efforts to BUR). acsof scale when local languages For example, The Gambia: Second Education Sector Project achieve economles orde w25 (2152-GM). cross jurisdictional borders.25 22 For example, The Gambia: Second Education Sector Project (2152-GM). Evaluation: 23 For example, Sao Tome e Principe: First Multisector Project (Cr2038-STP). 24 For example, Mozambique: Second Education Project (Cr 2200- * Evaluation of textbooks is carried out by a body MOZ). independent of the agency creating them.26 For example, Ethiopia: Education Sector Development Program * Bank-supported projects provide for training in (Cr 3077-ET). evaluation.127 26 For example, Mauritania: Education Restructuring Project (Cr 1943-MAU). * Evaluation is made objective by using multiple 7 Forexample, S6n6gal: Second Human Resources Development criteria under several headings. Major criteria Project (Cr 2473-SE). include completeness, appropriateness, organi- For example, Nigeria: Primary Education Project (Cr 2191- organi ,UNI); Philippines, Third Elementary Education Project (Cr zation, and presentation of the material; meth- 4108). odologies employed; gender and sbcial content; v Project Design and Implementation: Procurement extbooks may be manufactured entirely by an owned printing was used in only sixteen of the eighty- MOE or by a parastatal printing or publish- nine projects in this review, and all but five of those ing agency. Most often, however, they now are were approved before 1990. procured by governments from the private sector, During the 1980s, public agencies received free either by buying publishing services or by purchas- paper for the production of textbooks-sometimes ing finished textbooks originated by commercial through an IDA credit, but more commonly as a gift firms. from paper-producing countries in the North. This The procedures for procurement described in this policy too has come under question as a short-term chapter were used broadly in Sub-Saharan Africa solution that distorts the market in the long term. during the review period. They have proved effective In Ethiopia, the Educational Materials Produc- and may be considered best practices. tion and Distribution Agency (EMPDA), a state agency, Issues in procurement are treated in much was the sole provider of textbooks. Because it was greater detail in a "Technical Note on Procurement of tax exempt and the sole administrator of donated Textbooks and Readings Materials" that was being paper, its books could be sold below open market prepared by Bank staff while this review was under prices. Nevertheless, regional education offices com- way. In some details, it differs from the practices de- plained that its books were expensive and often late. scribed below. Two other documents have also been Considerable paper wastage was found in EMPDA's drafted to complement the "Operational Policy on printing plant. The government has decided to turn Textbooks and Reading Materials: a Standard Bid- EMPDA into a commercial enterprise exposed to com- ding Document for Textbooks and Reading Materi- petitive bidding. als" and a "User's Guide" to the bidding document. IDA textbook projects no longer involve ink, pa- per, and printing equipment. For some years now, Textbook Production by State Agencies the Bank has not dealt with raw materials. It may Since 1985 only a few projects have funded the sup- finance the purchase of small printing equipment for ply of printing equipment to MOEs. In Burundi, nota- the production of trial editions and confidential docu- bly, a series of IDA credits successfully supported the ments, but for textbooks, it finances services. long-term development of a public-sector academic print shop, in which Burundi nationals filled senior Procurement of Publishing Services positions.' After the ethnic violence of 1994, in which Most countries in the survey that entrust the writing much educational equipment was destroyed, the print of textbooks to a state agency now subcontract some shop was able with emergency aid to restore the stan- or all of the subsequent publishing functions to com- dard ratio of one textbook for every two pupils. mercial houses that have the necessary expertise and Experience has proved, however, that public sec- capacity. That is to say, the state retains the decision tor manufacture has often been inefficient. State- of what to publish-the most crucial decision in pub- 38 AFRICA REGION HUMAN DEVELOPMENT WORKING PAPER SERIES lishing-but delegates any or all of editing, design, * Dummies (prototypes) of the finished textbook illustration, manufacture, and distribution. and the teacher's guide. These are full-scale cop- Such agreements must follow the guidelines man- ies using blank paper, but otherwise similar to dated in the Bank's Procurement under IBRD Loans and the final books in the number of pages, thickness, IDA Credits, most recently revised in 1999. Its general type of paper, and quality of binding proposed. considerations are: Dummies must carry the title of the book and be stamped and signed by the submitting publisher * Economy and efficiency to avoid error or fraud. (These dummies will later * Openness to all eligible bidders provide a convenient standard for even relatively * Encouragement of domestic industry untrained inspectors to judge whether the fin- * Transparency. ished books deviate in paper and binding.) * Full tables of contents for the textbook and In addition to the regulations in that document, re- teacher's guide. quirements may be added for textbook provision that * Names and experience of any series editor and reflect the special nature of textbooks as opposed, say, the editors, proofreaders, and other persons to be to other learning materials, such as chalk and exer- involved in providing publishing services. cise books. * Evidence of the bidder's experience and qualifica- The procedure that follows provides a compre- tions, for example, previous contracts fulfilled, hensive framework for appraisal of a bidder's capac- samples of books already produced, and the postal ity to supply the services required and a benchmark and e-mail addresses and phone and fax num- against which to judge performance against prom- bers of clients so that references can be checked. ise. This procedure, designed by borrowers with help * The means that would be used to ship documents from the Bank's textbook specialist, has been followed (including edited and revised manuscripts, illus- in many projects in Sub-Saharan Africa during the trations, design proposals, layouts, and several 1990s. stages of proof) between the MOE and the bidder, if successful, and the cost of such shipments (to be Bid submission included in the bid). Bids are invited, usually through international ad- * A proposed schedule through to completion, in- vertisement. As part of the bid documents, prospec- cluding times allowed for the MOE to review ma- tive bidders receive sample lessons from a draft manu- terials. script that has been prepared in or under the aegis of * Evidence of financial capacity (e.g., annual turn- the borrower's MOE. Bidders are asked to demon- over and number of years in business). strate concretely how they will improve these * A list of all documents submitted. The borrower samples and how they will produce them for class- is urged to notify a bidder immediately if any- room use. There is nothing unusual in the request for thing is missing, rather than rejecting the bid later. improvement. Every manuscript can benefit from editorial and other interventions, major or minor, by The bids are evaluated, using a weighted system publishing professionals. that incorporates quality with price (see box 5.1). The Bidders are required to furnish the following as weight given to quality may vary, but at present is part of their bids: typically 40 percent for pedagogic merit, as in the example, and 60 percent for price. * Sample lessons given to them, edited, illustrated, designed, typeset, and printed as they would ap- Monitoring performance pear and on the same paper as in the final text- As for all contracts, the Bank reviews procurement book. procedures, documents, bid evaluations, award rec- * Parallel sample lessons in the teacher's guide, pre- ommendations, and the contract to ensure that the pared to the same level of completion. The text- process is carried out in accordance with agreed pro- book and teacher's guide are indivisible. cedures. WORLD BANK SUPPORT FOR PROVISION OF TEXTBOOKS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 1985-2000 39 ing, and binding that were included in the bid. The Box 5.1 MOE usually has another 12 months, under a post- Evaluating Bids for Both Quality delivery warranty, to identify and collect flawed cop- and Cost ies for credit or replacement. The publisher is allowed a small tolerance, perhaps 3 percent, for unaccept- The following system has been used in several able copies before restitution is required. projects with textbook components to evaluate jointly the quality of the books and their prices: Procurement Off the Shelf Many textbooks procured with IDA assistance are * The pedagogic merit of a textbook or teacher's bought off the shelf. That is, they already exist and guide is judged under a number of criteria, are available on the market, developed by publishers examples of which appear in box 4.1. Each who own the publishing rights and usually the copy- criterion constitutes a fraction of a right. The publishers may be locally owned, either submission's score out of 100. independently or as branches of transnational com- * The bidding documents stipulate a threshold, panies, or they may be foreign based. The books may often sixty out of 100, which bidders must have been produced for an international market or exceedtobeconsideredfurther.Anypublisher adapted from existing books specifically for the that does not meet the threshold is eliminated. borrower's market. Procurement, as for publishing All others are considered pedagogically ac- services, follows the Bank's published guidelines, ceptable. adapted to meet the special nature of the product. * The top publisher is given 40 merit points for Off-the-shelf procurement may be used in coun- quality. All other publishers that exceed the tries of any size, but is particularly appropriate, on threshold are given merit points by prorating the one hand, for countries that are too small or too their score to the winning publisher's score. poor to support domestic textbook development and, For example, if the top publisher scores 70 on the other, for large countries that can support their and the second publisher scores 65, the top own commercial publishing industry. Off the shelf publisher gets 40 merit points and the sec- procurement is also common for textbooks in "neu- ond gets (65/70) x 40 = 37.1 merit points. tral" subjects and for library materials, especially at * Prices in the bids are ranked in the same the secondary and tertiary levels. manner; the lowest bidder receives 60 points and others are prorated accordingly. Library books and periodical subscriptions * The bidder with the highest number of merit Orders for library books normally consist of a large points is deemed the winner. number of titles, each required in small quantities. The books are preselected, either by the MOE, if the same basic library is to be installed in many schools, Once the supplier has completed any revision, or by local experts, if the books are destined for a editing, illustration, and design called for in a con- tertiary institution. The books are normally in copy- tract for publishing services, the revised manuscript right and available only from their publishers. is evaluated by a panel of subject specialists that in- The standard procedure is to lump the books re- cludes active teachers. Another set of questions is quired in one indivisible package and invite bids for used-this time, ones that can be answered with a its supply, usually internationally. On occasion, two yes or no. Any concept or detail that is evaluated or more packages may be created. Bidders may be negatively must be revised before final approval. The booksellers, consolidators, or publishers who have MOE checks again at the final proof stage before print- distribution services and authorization to supply ing. books they do not themselves publish. Sample copies of the finished printed books are Bid evaluation is not concerned with quality. Li- inspected before delivery is accepted, to ensure that brary books are a classic procurement application. they meet the technical specifications for paper, print- 40 AFRICA REGION HUMAN DEVELOPMENT WORKING PAPER SERIES Periodicals, typically scientific or other special- receives 40 percent, as in the example in box 5.2 on ized publications, are also procured in indivisible the next page. In some projects, a publisher may win packages. The suppliers are limited to a few large sub- extra points by using authors from the borrower's scription agencies that operate internationally. Jour- country. nals require special attention. They are paid for an- Submissions normally include, among others: nually in advance of delivery and must be renewed annually. Deliveries must be monitored by the re- * Copies of the books to be supplied. cipients and missing issues claimed. The growth in * A dummy copy made with the same paper, num- the number of online journals may eventually ease ber of pages, and binding that will be used on this problem. books to be supplied. (This requirement is essen- Library books have been bought for secondary tial, because the publisher's existing edition may schools and occasionally primary schools in a num- not meet the borrower's minimum technical ber of countries, including Botswana, Comoros, Ethio- specifications or may exceed them.) Dummies pia, Ghana, Malawi, Mauritania, Mozambique, Nige- must have the title of the book and be stamped ria, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. Several projects and signed by the submitting publisher to avoid have financed library acquisitions for teacher train- error or fraud. ing colleges. Education credits have supported librar- * Bid security of at least 2 percent of the amount of ies, the heart and soul of any academic campus, at the bid. (The qualification "at least" is inserted so universities and polytechnic institutions in Burkina that the amount of the bid cannot be deduced Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo from the size of the security. A single fixed amount (then Zaire), Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, for all bidders is more desirable because it gives Mozambique, Senegal, and Tanzania. nothing away.) * Evidence of copyright ownership or authoriza- Textbooks, teacher's guides, and other instructional materials tion from the copyright owner to resell the books Textbooks and the accompanying teacher's guides are * A list of similar contracts previously fulfilled, tendered together in indivisible packages. Require- with the postal and e-mail addresses and phone ments are advertised locally and internationally. and fax numbers of clients, so that references can Up to the early 1990s, publishers and books were be checked. prequalified to ensure that they met a threshold in * A list of textbooks and teacher's guides previ- standards. They were then selected on the basis of ously published. the price bid. There was little recognition that some * A copy of the cover as modified to meet the prequalified books might be pedagogically superior borrower's specifications. to others and that the best value might require a * A schedule of delivery for finished books. trade-off between cost and quality. When a single textbook is procured nationally The Bank will occasionally intervene if it believes for each subject-grade, it is now common for quality wrong decisions have been made. In Chad, in 1996, and price to be evaluated together in the manner de- for example, the Bank refused to approve certain read- scribed for procurement of publishing services. The ing and science textbooks that had been selected, be- weighting may vary. In an early example in Sierra cause they were considered too difficult for the in- Leone2 (Searle 1985: 30), academic merit was given tended students.4 high priority. Only 20 merit points out of 100 were given to production quality and cost. The remaining Procurement with decentralized multiple choice in textbooks 80 merit points were divided roughly equally among Some countries that are decentralizing educational conformity to curriculum, pedagogic suitability, pre- management allow districts or schools to choose the sentation and design, and local content. At the other textbooks most suited to their needs from an autho- extreme, in Chad in the mid-1990s, academic merit rized list. These countries normally prequalify both received only 20 percent of the total weight and price publishers and textbooks. received 80 percent.3 Academic merit now generally WORLD BANK SUPPORT FOR PROVISION OF TEXTBOOKS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 1985-2000 41 Box 5.2 Benin: Selection through Weighted Evaluation In 1996 the MOE of Benin invited bids through ICB for the supply of primary-level textbooks. The invitation was divided into three lots. The project provided technical assistance in preparing bid documents and bid evaluation.- Lot 2 (comprising 338,260 textbooks in mathematics with teachers' guides) attracted six bidders. Only five were deemed acceptable. The lowest bidder received 60 points, and the other bidders were prorated accordingly. Teams made up of carefully selected former teachers, inspectors, and cuniculum experts, all of whom had had at least ten years' experience and had been retired at least seven years, evaluated the books. The publisher of the textbook and teacher's guide they considered best was given 40 points, and the other submissions were prorated accordingly. The results for Lot 2 were: Pedagogic merit points Financial points Total points Publisher A 31.85 60.00 91.85 Publisher B 32.13 40.66 72.79 Publisher C 29.43 52.55 71.98 Publisher D 40.00 26.01 66.01 Publisher E: option 1 34.18 35.44 69.62 Publisher E: option 2 34.76 24.52 59.28 PublisherA, which had the lowest bid, was deemed the winner, even though it had the second lowest ranking for pedagogic merit. Publisher D, which was considered to have produced the best books, was only the fourth in overall ranking. This may seem an unwarranted bias toward price over quality, but the details behind the summary table illustrate the trade-offs that can occur in attempting to balance the two. In the technical evaluation for pedagogic merit, publisher D received 88.09 points out of 100, and publisher A received 70.15. Publisher D received 40 merit points, and publisherA received (70.15/88.09) x 40 = 31.85 merit points. Publisher A offered the textbooks and teacher's guides for CFA 136.8 million, whereas publisher D asked CFA 315.6 million. PublisherA received 60 merit points, whereas publisher D received only (136.8/315.6) x 60 = 26.01 merit points. Publisher D's price was roughly 2.3 times higher than publisherA's. On the other hand, the difference between D's points for pedagogic merit and A's was only about 25 percent. The ministry concluded, through this weighted approach, that the gross savings were greater than the increase in quality that could be obtained from publisher D. Publisher D lost out, because its price was so high. Had its price been the same as publisher C's, it would have had a total of 92.55 points and been deemed the winner. 'Education Development Project (Third Education Project) (Cr2613-BE1N). Recent experience in Zambia illustrates one pos- sible proceaure. With Bank assistance, the govern- * Experience in executing large tenders for the sup- ment developed a two-tiered procedure for evalua- ply of educational materials tion, assessing both the capabilities of applicants and * Financial capability the suitability of their submissions.5 The tender docu- * Ownership of or access to equipment to produce ments provided detailed criteria. the required number of textbooks Sixteen publishing houses applied for * Any history of litigation that would disqualify prequalification and submitted textbooks for ap- them proval. A committee assessed the applicants under * In the case of joint venture companies, the quali- five criteria: fications of all parties including their commer- cial orientation. 42 AFRICA REGION HUMAN DEVELOPMENT WORKING PAPER SERIES small value, delivery is widespread over time or Each member of the committee made an individual space, the materials required are specialized, or evaluation. The committee then met to discuss those the materials are available locally at prices be- findings and reach a pass-fail group decision. low the international market. At the same time, three-person committees in each * Shopping, either nationally or internationally, subject assessed the pedagogic quality of the books involves securing price quotations from at least submitted. Members again made individual assess- three competitive suppliers. It is used to buy items ments and submitted total scores for each submis- of small value. sion. Each committee then discussed individual * Direct contracting from a single source without scores, particularly any extreme variations in them. competition is acceptable (a) if an existing con- The final score for each textbook was the arithmetic tract procured under Bank guidelines is being average of the scores of the three evaluators. extended and there is no evidence that an advan- Textbooks with scores of 75 percent or higher tage could be gained through competition, (b) were considered approved for school use. They and when it is desirable to standardize equipment or their publishers were eligible to participate in ten- obtain spare parts from the original supplier, or ders for supply of textbooks to the MOE. Books scor- (c) when the required equipment is proprietary ing between 50 and 74 percent could be submitted in and available from only one source. future tenders, but only after being revised and re- evaluated. Textbooks scoring less than 50 percent In procuring textbooks and other instructional- were considered ineligible for future tender. learning materials, any one of these methods of pro- Eight publishers had textbooks approved; how- curement may be used, especially when small quan- ever, only five were accepted as applicants-four of tities are needed or when a local language is used for them transnational publishers, three of them with instruction. Several methods may sometimes be com- local branches, and one Kenyan owned. bined: Flexibility in Procurement . A relatively small project in Ghana included li- The development credit agreement reached for each brary books for 140 senior secondary schools project between the Bank and a borrowing govern- being built with community support. In view of ment establishes a value in U.S. dollars, above which the limited number of books to be procured, it procurement must be carried out by ICB. The proce- was decided to contract directly with the pub- dures under ICB are designed to provide all eligible lishers in the expectation that higher discounts prospective bidders within member countries of the could be negotiated than could be secured through Bank with timely and adequate notification of a an agent.6 borrower's requirements and an equal opportunity * The small lusophone nation of Sao Tome e to bid for the required goods and works. Principe divided procurement of new textbooks Below the threshold for ICB, contracts may be let into two stages. Preprinting services (design, in several ways. Their use is decided on a case-by- typesetting, and filmmaking) required close co- case basis, if they can be proved better in that context ordination of suppliers, authors, and production than ICB. These alternative options include: staff, so they were procured through local shop- ping in Portugal. Printing, binding, and shipping * Limited international bidding is essentially ICB, were procured by inviting bids from printers in but by direct invitation without open advertise- a number of countries (limited international bid- ment. It is used principally when contract values ding).7 are small and only a limited number of potential * In other small countries, including Comoros and suppliers exists. Djibouti, textbook requirements have been * National competitive bidding is for purely do- bundled together in an indivisible package for mestic purchase. It may be the most efficient procurement, in the same way that library books method of procurement when the contract is of are procured elsewhere. WORLD BANK SUPPORT FOR PROVISION OF TEXTBOOKS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 1985-2000 43 In the large and ethnically diverse Republic of excluded from additional rounds. In this way, five Ethiopia, ICB is being used to procure library publishers were identified in each subject, but books and printing jobs large enough to attract the largest quantity always went to the lowest international competition. Limited international bidder. The books were then centrally allocated bidding may be used for special printing and to each state. The solution was not perfect, but it publishing packages worth less than US$200,000. provided books to schools throughout Africa's Most contracts, however, will be less than largest country in the short time available for US$100,000, because of regional decentralization implementation. in publishing and the number of languages in which textbooks are being published. Those con- Monitoring performance tracts will probably be awarded through na- Sample copies of books are checked on delivery for tional competitive bidding, although foreign bid- conformity with technical specifications. Shipments ders will be allowed to make offers. Procurement have occasionally been rejected, because the printer from EMPDA (the former state monopoly pub- used a different paper than specified or because of lisher of textbooks) or other suppliers on a sole faulty binding. source basis may be required for regions or zones where demand cannot be satisfied by any com- Reprinting petitive means. In addition, some small print runs During the life of a project, textbooks may have to be may be performed in-house in regions that have reprinted to meet the needs of increasing enrollments their own printing facilities.8 and to replace lost or damaged copies. Some projects also involve initial large reprintings of existing text- Bank employees must occasionally exercise con- books, possibly as an interim measure, while the cur- siderable flexibility or ingenuity to meet both the riculum is being revised. Bank's guidelines and a borrowing government's In either case, the books involved have already needs or wishes: been approved and no additional evaluation of con- tent is required. Nor is any change needed in the con- * Under a credit agreement with Nigeria, the MOE tents, except perhaps for simple correction of errors was expected to procure a single textbook in each or omissions. subject-grade from the lowest qualified bidder Procurement of reprinting requires little that is through ICB.9 The government, however, refused special in procedures. Printers must demonstrate that to accept a single book for the entire country. By they are capable of meeting the terms of the contract 1997, five years after approval, the project was by submitting a dummy, samples of their work, lists far behind schedule and the Bank granted an ex- of their equipment and qualifications of their employ- tension of two years; thus, textbook procurement ees, and photographs of their printing plant. On oc- faced considerable time pressure in addition to casion, the MOE may send a staff member to inspect the impasse over selection. the bidder's premises. Bids are evaluated on physical As a first step, the Bank agreed to limited com- quality of the submitted materials and price. The petitive bidding for the procurement of series of qualified printer with the lowest bid is deemed suc- textbooks in each subject. The requirement for cessful. textbooks in each subject was then broken into five very unequal lots (for example, for a hypo- Economies of Scale thetical total of 1 million copies, lots of 350,000, The unit cost of manufacture for a book is a function 250,000, 150,000, 130,000, and 120,000 copies). of the one-time (fixed) costs (development, editing, Selected publishers were invited to bid on all five design, illustration, typesetting, layout, and film and lots in each subject. The largest lot was evalu- plate making) and the variable costs (paper, printing, ated first, and the deemed winner was excluded and binding). As the quantity printed increases, the from all other lots in that subject. The second larg- unit cost decreases. There are no hard and fast rules est was evaluated next, and its deemed winner of thumb, but in general, economies of scale are 44 AFRICA REGION HUMAN DEVELOPMENT WORKING PAPER SERIES achieved in new books at print runs of 50,000 copies, book procurement as a shortage of qualified staff and so long as this quantity can be used within two to less-then-perfect implementation of guidelines. An- three years. In reprinting, economies of scale are other remarked that procurement "sometimes works achieved more rapidly. and sometimes does not" (Sosale 1999: 145, 206). It has been suggested that simple rules of thumb would help task managers build budgets and evalu- The Bank's procurement rules [he continued] are ate bid documents. But textbooks are not homoge- complicated, and maybe we in the Bank should neous. try to move away from having intemational com- The cost of manufacture varies with the number petitive bidding as the presumptive approach in of copies printed, the number of pages in each book, textbook projects. Although Bank-wide it may still the size of the page, the complexity of the typesetting, be necessary to use international competitive the extent and nature of illustration, the number of bidding, we ought to use it while looking for an colors printed, the size and speed of the press, and appropriate national or local competitive bidding the productivity of the printing staff. To these vari- or other sorts of specifically supply-side or de- ables must be added volatility in the price of paper, mand-side-financed options. There is no virtue fluctuating exchange rates, and the difference between in utilizing scarce resources to train people to first printing (in which most one-time costs are ab- learn the extraordinarily complex rules and reg- sorbed) and reprinting. Distribution costs also vary ulations, if we can attain the objectives of edu- greatly, depending on the size and geography of the cating large numbers in an easier fashion with country and the conditions under which distribu- less transaction costs. tion is undertaken. An average cost for a textbook would, therefore, The cost of the bidding documents and their be misleading, whether it is for a single country or preparation has proved to be a barrier to the partici- for the region. At worst, it would be a Procrustean pation of publishers, especially smaller publishers bed, in which task managers who sought to achieve with shallow pockets. Publishers in Zambia com- the average would sacrifice either economy or qual- plained that, with the Bank's concurrence, the cost of ity. bidding documents had been increased to US$75 un- der the project previously mentioned. Concems In another instance, an unidentified West Afri- Governments have complained about the complex- can distributor found it impossible to participate in ity of the Bank's procurement procedures and about a World Bank project that involved four textbooks delays caused by them. Ghana's MOE reported that a and teacher's guides for the following reasons. To sub- combination of Bank and local tendering procedures mit a bid, it had to find CFA 50,000 (then about under one project could delay awards for 8 to 12 US$100) to acquire the tender documents, a bank guar- months. As a result, successful bidders would only antee of 2.5 percent of the value of the tender, and a have 3 to 4 months to print textbooks before the start staff housing tax clearance equal to 1.5 percent of the of the school year. As a result, books often arrived salary of each member of its staff. If successful, it long after classes had begun.'" would have had to provide CFA 9.8 million (about The complexity can be intimidating to publish- US$20,000), about 5 percent of the value of the con- ers. For example, it took 191 pages to provide infor- tract, in guarantees. The company would also have mation to potential bidders for textbooks in French had to demonstrate that it had been financially study for the primary schools of Madagascar." This healthy for some years and had assets worth at least amount of information may be unavoidable in a legal four times the value of the contract sum. The govern- document that must cover all contingencies, but the ment would advance 30 percent of the contract price, consequences must also be recognized. but only subject to a bank's guarantee. The require- At a World Bank seminar devoted to textbook ments in this case, coming from both the government provision held in Washington in 1997, one senior staff and the Bank, effectively doubled the guarantees nor- member described the underlying problems in text- WORLD BANK SUPPORT FOR PROVISION OF TEXTBOOKS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 1985-2000 45 mally required by the Bank (Bgoya and others 1997: thresholds, but procurement officers are sensi- 86-87). tive to the value of flexibility when the values fall Nonetheless, the system has had exceptional suc- below the relevant threshold.16 cesses. In Cape Verde, for example, IDA was to finance * Details of best practices are described in detail the development and testing of new titles in Portu- throughout the chapter. guese and mathematics and the printing of 430,000 copies of the new books, enough to achieve a text- copof-to-pupil ratioof 1:1. In the end, thanks to say- First Education Project (Cr 679-BU), Third Education Project book-to-pupil ratio of 1:1. In the end, thanks to sav- (Cr 1358-BU), Fourth Education Project (Cr 1881-BU), and ings through the use of local design and editing and Emergency Assistance Project (Cr 2668-BU). ICB for printing, the project was able to fund new 2 Third Education Credit (Cr 1353). textbooks in science as well and a total printing of 3Basic Education Credit (Cr 2501-CD). 700,000 co ies.11 In Uganda, through cost-effective 4Basic Education Project (Cr 2501-CD). 700,000 copies.'2 I Basic Education Subsector Investment Program Support Project physical specifications and ICB, 3.5 million textbooks (Cr 3190-ZA). (6 percent more than the target) were procured and 6 Community Secondary Schools Construction Project (Cr 2278- distributed for US$5.22 million (33 percent below the GH). ' Multisector Project (Cr 2038-STP). cost estimated at appraisal).'3 8 Education Sector Development Program (Cr 3077-ET). 9Primary Education Project (Cr 2191-NG). Summary of Best Practices l Health and Education Rehabilitation Project (Cr 1653-GH). Education Sector Development Project (Cr 3046-MAG). . 2 Primary Education Upgrading Project (Cr 1853-CV). * Publishing services and finished books are pro- 13 Fourth Education Project (Cr 1965-UG). cured through competitive bidding. 14 For example, Benin: Education Development Project (Third * Bids are evaluated for quality of content as well Education Project) (Cr 2613-BEN). as price, using a weighted system of merit "For example, Senegal: Higher Education Project (Cr 2872-SE). poin.14 16 For example, Ghana: Community Secondary Schools points.'4 Construction Project (Cr 2278-GH); Sao Tome e Principe, * Library books and periodicals are procured as Multisector Project (Cr 2038-STP); Ethiopia, Education Sector indivisible packages, consolidated by wholesal- Development Program (Cr 3077-ET). ers, publishers, or subscription agencies." * International competitive bidding is required if the contract value is higher than established VI Project Design and Implementation: Distribution and Use * nce textbooks and teacher's guides are pro- ample, 43 million textbooks and 375,000 teacher's duced, two challenges arise: first, getting manuals are to be distributed under a credit approved them safely to their intended users, overcom- in 1999.' ing both geographic and human obstacles, and, sec- Enrcllments in secondary schools are much lower ond, encouraging their use. The latter often requires than in the primary grades, but the number of text- extra training for teachers and changes in the instruc- books required can still be in the hundreds of thou- tional culture. sands and, occasionally, in the millions, as in Ethio- pia. Even library support can involve sizeable pro- Quantities Involved curements. In Ghana, libraries of 1,000 books each The desperate need for textbooks has been established were funded for 140 senior secondary schools being in one appraisal report after another. Reported text- built with community support during the early and book-to-pupil ratios range anywhere from 1:5 to 1:10 mid-1990s.2 Under a separate and concurrent agree- or worse. Schoolchildren in tiny Sao Tome e Principe ment, assistance was given for the purchase of 76,000 had no textbooks in the late 1980s. Across Zambia in books for Ghana's tertiary level libraries.3 1993, schools had only one textbook in English for every five pupils, one in mathematics for every eight, Distribution by the State and one in social science for every twenty. In the same Throughout the 1980s, most countries surveyed used year in Uganda, the ratio averaged 1:6, despite two agencies of the state to distribute textbooks. For many previous infusions of textbooks under IDA credits. the agency was the MOE, typically shipping from a Acute shortages were most often caused by financial central warehouse to a network of regional and/or austerity, inadequate management, or logistical im- district education offices, from where the books were pediments. In Angola and Sierra Leone, books were expected to flow to the schools. In those countries destroyed in civil wars; in Burundi and Rwanda, in IDA-funded projects often assisted in the building of genocidal conflict; and in Mozambique, in floods. warehouses and purchase of delivery vehicles. In Most projects have tried to raise the textbook-to- Botswana, distribution was carried out satisfacto- pupil ratio to one book in core subjects for every one rily through the ministry of local government and or two pupils, especially in the early primary grades. lands and its district councils. Cape Verde has de- To achieve such ratios in countries starved of learn- pended on parastatals to distribute textbooks ing materials requires large quantities of new books. throughout its islands. At the primary level, project designs frequently call for procurement of more than 500,000 copies; quanti- ties can range much higher. In Mozambique, for ex- 48 AFRICA REGION HUMAN DEVELOPMENT WORKING PAPER SERIES Failures in delivery tainers before reaching the schools. Delivery re- State-run distribution systems encountered prob- ceipts were never signed, were forged, or were lems. Most often, the distribution chain broke down left in schools. Books destined for schools were at the regional or district education office, the point sold in the open market, and vendors implicated from which books were to be delivered to individual staff members at all levels of the education ad- schools. The offices tended to be inadequately staffed ministration." or funded, or both. Their storage facilities were often makeshift and their employees untrained in book From time to time, shipments of imported books management. Because textbooks could be sold, leak- have been held up on the docks by bureaucratic de- ages occurred. Problems arose throughout most of lays. This happened during emergency replenishment the review period: the earliest of the five projects cited in Angola. In Malawi, books donated by the Canadian below was closed in 1985; the most recent, in 1998. government were held up at customs for 18 months. The Malawi Book Service delivered textbooks to A successful delivery strategy the country's three regional education offices. In contrast, state distribution was considered very Because the regional offices lacked adequate stor- successful in Uganda during the mid-1980s. The age space, books had to be held in offices and cor- project was designed to rehabilitate and equip some ridors before being delivered to district offices. 5,500 selected institutions at all levels after the over- The regional offices also lacked expertise and re- throw of Idi Amin. The plan was simple and the nec- sources for distribution. Books typically waited essary infrastructure had been built. Learning mate- a month for transport. The Malawi Book Service rials bought under a Bank credit were consolidated in had warehouses in the same three regional cen- the Netherlands, where they were packed and la- ters and was already delivering consumables to belled by school and consolidated in containers by the district education offices; it could also have district. The containers were shipped via Mombasa carried the books. During the 1990s the project direct to the districts without transit through implementation unit took over transport to the Kampala. Some 99 percent of materials shipped in this district offices.4 way reached the district offices. There, they were un- * In Mauritania, the national pedagogical institute, packed under the supervision of staff of the project which was responsible for distribution, could not implementation unit, which also supervised distri- reach the entire country with its small fleet of bution to the schools. trucks. All but sixteen of its sales points were The books were initially to be transported from located in Nouakchott, the capital. Delivery was district offices by school trucks; the district paid for eventually entrusted to the private sector.5 fuel. In the end, however, they were often carried to * In Swaziland, distribution was about half a year the schools on bicycles owned by teachers and par- behind schedule in some regions, because of a ents or on children's heads. The project implementa- shortage of staff. The ministry tried to resolve tion unit tried to keep the public informed by radio this problem in 1987 by hiring one Junior Certifi- when large quantities of materials were arriving in cate holder in each regional education office.6 an area. Parent-teacher associations were actively * In Zambia, procurement of textbooks through involved in receiving the books. Each school was re- competitive bidding under a newly liberalized quired to return delivery notes promptly to the dis- regime was highly successful. But the district trict office, which sent them to the project implemen- education offices, intended as the hubs for distri- tation unit. There, records were kept carefully by bution, lacked storage facilities, vehicles, and school and district. The Completion Mission reported budgets. Quantities of books remained undeliv- that some 99 percent of the learning materials and ered at the end of the project.7 other supplies reached the end users.9 * Entire containers of textbooks shipped to Chad during the early 1990s were diverted to other countries. Books were also removed from con- WORLD BANK SUPPORT FOR PROVISION OF TEXTBOOKS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 1985-2000 49 Failures in storage Figure 6.1 illustrates the extent of the change to Public storage was often inadequate. At the MOE's private distribution. Private distributors were barely central warehouse in Guinea, for example, textbooks considered in projects approved before 1990. In con- had arrived in cartons that were too large for easy trast, more than half the projects approved during handling. They were exposed to theft, dust, humidity, the following decade used private sector transport- and vermin. No system existed for inventory control. ers, solely or in combination with the state. Books were piled up six cartons high without any Burkina Faso settled on a public-private partner- system of order by subject or level, so that they had to ship for distribution after a state program for deliv- be shifted frequently, damaging the packing. They ery bogged down in the inspectorate offices. The gov- were shipped to schools in poor quality cartons with- ernment contracted with the booksellers' association out adequate protection from weather. As a result, and Faso Yaar, a parastatal distributor of essential many books were lost in transit, especially during goods, to sell books nationwide. Commercial shops the rainy season (AED 1998: 44-45). stocked books in the two principal cities, Ougadougou Projects built or expanded state-owned ware- and Bobo Dialasso. Faso Yaar was responsible for sell- houses in Benin, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, The Gambia, ing books in the rest of the country except in the most Mauritania, and Sierra Leone. In Mauritania, for ex- remote areas. Those continued to be served by ample, the Bank financed the improvement of a cen- inspectorates.1" tral warehouse, shelving for regional storage facili- By the end of the review period, competitively ties, and purchase of 2,800 containers to be used both selected local private-sector transport was the fa- in transporting books to the schools and for storage vored method of distribution. in the schools."0 Use of suppliers in distribution Training and computerized management Under some projects, responsibility for delivery was Several projects provided for training of MOE staff in lodged with the suppliers as part of the procurement inventory management and the proper care and stor- process. In Mali, for example, printers and publishers age of books. Current projects in Burkina Faso, Chad, selected by ICB under a current project will not only Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, and Sao Tome e Principe produce textbooks, but also deliver them to the dis- provide for the establishment of computerized man- trict inspectorate offices. Communities will be respon- agement systems to track the procurement and dis- sible for picking the books up at the district offices tribution of textbooks and other learning materials. With computerized stock tracking, it'is possible to Figure 6.1 know exactly the number of books in each school and F ibure bS t when they need to be replaced. Private Sector Distribution Projects Dissatisfied with public distribution systems, many 35Public governments turned to the private sector. Comoros 30 Private was the first in Sub-Saharan Africa to use private _ Both transport successfully." Benin was next. More than 25 - 830,000 textbooks and teacher's guides were distrib- 20 uted to primary and secondary schools for the begin- -_ ning of the 1998-99 school year, using a transport com- 15 - _ pany selected by national competitive bidding A text- 1 0 book committee in each community attested to their safe delivery and was responsible for their mainte- 5 nance. The successful transporter received an advance 0 _ payment of 30 percent of the bid price, but was paid 1982-89 1990-2000 the balance only on presentation of delivery receipts Date of project approval signed by school directors or local textbook commit- tees.'2 50 AFRICA REGION HUMAN DEVELOPMENT WORKING PAPER SERIES and for their storage and safekeeping."4 Delivery of inspectorates were in the end given responsibil- primary-level textbooks in Togo was also integrated ity for selling books to the parents.'9 in the book purchase contract."5 Under a current project in Zambia, the suppliers are to distribute the Administration of delivery systems could also textbooks to most schools, but the MOE will be re- prove difficult to control: sponsible for reaching remote schools that need few textbooks.'6 * Guinea used private transport companies to de- The same strategy was used in Nigeria after it liver books to urban schools and to the principal became clear, during an initial shipment of about 11 centers of rural subprefectures. Local commit- million books in 1998, that domestic transporters tees of parents, teachers, and civil society organi- lacked the capacity to reach the schools. In two fol- zations were responsible for the textbooks on lowing procurement tenders, suppliers were required arrival and should have signed for their deliv- to deliver books to the local government education ery. In many cases, however, truckers arrived authorities, who, along with zonal education offices, without notice and required immediate were provided with vehicles to carry the books to the acknowledgement of delivery, even at night, so schools.'7 akoldeeto eiey vna ih,s that they could continue on their way. Sometimes, Failures in private sector distribution only teachers were present when the books ar- rived and signed for receipt of the books, perhaps Private sector distribution was not without occa- sional problems. Distribution was halted in Malawi without verifying the quantity delivered. In other in 1997, because of delays in government payments cases, the subprefect or subprefectural educa- to the transport companies.'8 As a result, schools tional officer was the sole signatory. Quantities lacked textbooks, while government warehouses were of books that were duly signed for never reached full. In the next education project, the Bank undertook the schools.20 to finance distribution. Slow government payments also delayed shipments in Nigeria. There, the Bank A recent study in Zambia found that, in the case extended the terms of the credit to cover distribution. of some textbooks, less than 9 percent of copies pro- Government reliance on retail marketing of text- cured actually reached the schools (Silanda 2001). The books proved disappointing in more than one in- study period preceded the current Bank education stance. Booksellers refused to venture into poor and credit, under which suppliers are responsible for de- remote areas, where they could not expect to sell livery to all but remote schools. enough books to ensure a profit. Distribution through Civil Society Organizations * In Senegal, textbooks procured by the MOE were In a few countries where both the public and private sold to parents at a heavily subsidized price. Dis- sectors were incapable of delivering project-funded tribution was entrusted principally to retailers, textbooks, civil society organizations filled the breach. who received a discount of 10 to 35 percent on During the 1980s, textbook distribution in Zaire the wholesale price, depending on the number of was delayed for lack of counterpart funds. About 80 regions they covered and the number of points of percent of the country's primary schools were affili- sale they operated. The discount schedule, how- ated with and supported by churches-Catholic, Prot- ever, contained no incentive to serve remote ar- estant, and Kimbanguist-and in the end, textbooks eas, and in those areas, inspectors and school di- were distributed through their channels. An evalua- rectors were given retion of this approach found that 95 percent of the text- rectors were given responsibility for selling books. Some retailers collected their discount books reached their destination." In Angola, an elaborate distribution program was without delivering books to distant locaions It devised during the 1990s, enlisting the support of is suspected that the books were instead diverted NO,cuc rus oeUN gnisivle to he penmaret n te bgge comuntie in NGOs, church groups, some U.N. agencies involved to the open market in the bigger communities in in the distribution of humanitarian aid, the Social a controlled way so as to drive up prices. In Action Fund, and two parastatals that were normally poorer, remote areas, the primary school responsible for the work. Not all provinces could be WORLD BANK SUPPORT FOR PROVISION OF TEXTBOOKS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 1985-2000 51 reached as security deteriorated in 1998-99, but . When books arrive at the school, the head teacher through this informal network some 1,225,000 IDA- should immediately verify the quantity before funded textbooks reached the schools.22 signing to acknowledge receipt. Counting copies should be carried out publicly to ensure account- Storage in the Schools ability. Most schools built with IDA funding during the 1990s . The name of the school and the date of receipt provide for book storage. The storerooms are typi- should be written on the inside cover of each copy. cally a full or half classroom in size with access only This information will help determine when books through the school director's office. They are equipped have served their life span and may also help with simple shelving, often of boards and bricks. Some recover a book that has been lost or stolen. classrooms are equipped with cupboards to store . Each copy should be given a unique serial num- books in daily use. In a few projects, metal chests were ber. provided, but on occasion these were found converted * When a student is issued a book, the serial num- to uses other than the storage of books. ber should be recorded in the classroom register. In Uganda, the provision of steel book lockers in the schools, combined with teacher training in the Teamn care and use of books and good physical specifica- year. tions for paper and binding, resulted in longer book , Teacher's guides and textbooks should be re- corded in the same manner. life. Instead of lasting three years on average, as ex- pected,~~ bok reaie inuefrfvosvnyas23 * Students should write their names inside the pected, books remained in use for five to seven years .13 cvro h okhyrcie (Some of the prolonged life might also be attributed to cover of the books they receive. underuse.) . Although the head teacher has overall responsi- Failures also occurred. In Guinea, storage space bility for textbook management, class teachers was included in the design of new schools, but the look after day-to-day administration. They issue space allowed was often so inadequate that the direc- textbooks to students, keep records, collect books, tor or teachers had to keep books in their homes. Fewer check for damage, and count and store books at than one classroom in four had a book storage cup- the end of the school year. (If students are not board. The standard school design called for the cup- allowed to take books home, the teacher collects, boards to be located along an exterior wall, where checks, and stores books each day.) they would be more exposed to weather than if they . Students, parents, and community leaders were moved to the inside wall. In most classrooms should be sensitized to the importance of text- the pupils' desks did not have space to store books books and the need to treat them with care. (AED 1998: 45-47). * Books should be covered with durable paper or plastic to prolong their life. School Management of Textbooks . All books should be inspected for damage at least The Bank has assisted MOEs in preparing guidelines once each term. A record of book condition should for management of textbooks owned by the state and be maintained, using terms such as "good," "fair," rented or lent free of charge to students., "poor," and "unusable." The guidelines call for the books to be clearly iden- . All books must be collected at the end of the year, tified on the cover as public property and not for sale. along with the records for each class, for safe- The cover color and/or design should be different from keeping and subsequent stock taking. any commercial edition of the same textbook that may . Students are responsible for replacing lost or be available on the open market. damaged copies if they are found to be negligent. Schools are usually responsible for mnggthe Scolrsalrmanaging t Head teachers are responsible for collecting rental book stocks assigned to them. A typical management fees and paying them into the bank. guide contains the following instructions, all of which may be considered best practices:24 52 AFRICA REGION HUMAN DEVELOPMENT WORKING PAPER SERIES Use in the Schools during English lessons about 45 percent of the time A Bank staff member visiting schools in Uganda found (up from 18 percent in the previous year) and used many textbooks in the classroom in mint condition. them about 30 percent of the time during English in- This was not an uncommon experience in Sub-Saharan struction (up from 15 percent). The chalkboard con- Africa or, for that matter, in other countries where tinued to be prominent. IDA or its sister regional banks have funded textbooks. Teachers may be reluctant to use textbooks for Teacher Training in Textbook Use several reasons. The reasons most often expressed are: Several projects have provided funding for training fear that the books will not be replaced if they get teachers in the effective use, care, and maintenance of worn out, fear that the books might be lost or dam- new textbooks that were being produced under the aged, and fear that the teacher will have to pay for credit. Among them were projects in Chad, Comoros, any books that are lost or damaged. Equatorial Guinea, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Observers have suggested two other reasons. The Mauritania, Niger, Somalia, Togo, and Zambia. first is that teachers are slow to give up the teaching Success in these endeavors does not appear in style they have followed in the absence of textbooks, project completion reports, but this may be in part which may be the style by which they themselves because attention to this activity has increased since learned. Even with textbooks available, they continue the mid-1990s and many of the projects are still cur- to teach by writing lessons and exercises on the chalk- rent. Evidence does exist, however, of disappoint- board and leading oral recitations of the material. The ments: second reason is that some teachers, including those least qualified, feel threatened by textbooks, especially * The textbooks produced under a credit in the Cen- new ones that employ different content or methods. tral African Republic lacked teacher's guides.27 Some evidence exists (cited in Psacharopoulos and * In Mauritania, IDA financed about ten days of in- Woodhall 1985: 221) that less experienced teachers, service training for 4,000 teachers and 140 in- who might be expected to benefit most from carefully spectors. Field visits subsequently indicated that prepared textbooks, are less likely to use them than the sessions had too many participants, were their more experienced colleagues. mainly intended to pass on information, and at On a visit to a rural primary school in Burkina times were conducted by trainers with little more Faso in 2000, an audit mission found the teachers to understanding of the subject than the trainees." be present, knowledgeable, and interested, but with u o t s t t *In Zambia, orientation seminars in the use of text- the textbooks stacked on their desks. The teachers ex- bo were priedtfor selected thers, t plained that they were not using the books, because tlons lerned werented toather the students might tear them up.5 In Chad, a Bank 29 mission visiting schools during a mid-term project colleagues. review in 1997 also found that books bought under In Comoros, a series of teacher training courses an IDA project were not being used. A manual on the concentrated on improving ability in French and management and maintenance of books, planned for mathematics and gave little attention to class- more than a year, had not yet been distributed. Both room management or the use of textbooks im- Bank staff and their local counterparts became con- ported with Bank financing. Teachers who took vinced that there was no point in distributing text- the courses were stll found to be spending a great books without an accompanying program of decen- deal of time writing on the board, dictating word tralized training and supervision in their care and by word, and working with one student, leaving use. 26 the others without work. The authors of the A study in Ghana (Harris and others 1997) identi- project completion report concluded, "One les- fied head teachers as the key to textbook use and care. son to be learnt from the textbook-teacher's guide When they encouraged teachers and issued clear and subcomponent is that this type of activity calls specific guidelines, the books were more likely to be for enormous dynamism and organizing power, used. As teachers grew more comfortable with them, which is frequently underestimated at ap- their use increased. Children had access to textbooks praisal."30 WORLD BANK SUPPORT FOR PROVISION OF TEXTBOOKS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 1985-2000 53 In Uganda teacher training has, to some extent at labelled by school. Those packages are consoli- least, been taken up by the private sector. The dated in containers addressed by district.36 government has introduced a system of local * Adequate storage space, equipped with shelving, choice among several approved textbooks pro- is provided where needed throughout the distri- duced by commercial firms. Publishers, as part bution process to protect books against weather, of their marketing effort, have been offering water, vermin, insects, and theft.37 teacher orientation seminars in the use of their * Wooden or metal book containers purchased un- books. There is little in reports about the fate of der the credit are used for transport and for stor- some hundreds of thousands of books and jour- age in the schools.3" nals procured for libraries, primarily at second- * Textbook management information systems are ary and tertiary institutions. Only the disap- established in the MOEs for tracking needs, pro- pointments are singled out. curements, deliveries, and inventories. Installa- * In Zaire, more than 55,000 books, plus labora- tion is accompanied by training for MOE staff at tory equipment and other teaching materials, all appropriate levels.39 were delivered to thirteen tertiary institutions * The local community is involved in delivery to in early 1991. As a result of the growing disaffec- the schools. Community representatives are tion of officials in that country, however, books present when books are unpacked and counted.40 and materials still remained unpacked when the * If local transporters cannot carry out distribu- completion report was written more than three tion, parastatals have in some countries proved years later.31 more efficient than ministries. Elsewhere, the * In Ghana, library books were delivered to 1,000 project implementation unit has been made re- secondary schools that had been built with com- sponsible for administering delivery. Civil soci- munity and IDA support. At project close, the ety organizations have delivered textbooks in cartons in some schools were still not unpacked countries where both public and private sectors for lack of shelves, tables, and chairs. Commu- were unable to do so.4'1 nity use of the new school libraries-an outcome anticipated in the project design-occurred only Storage in the schools rarely.32 * Each school has a secure room with shelves that Summary of Best Practices is large enough to store the school's supply of text- books when they are not in use."2 Distribution . Classrooms have storage cupboards or contain- ers for books in daily use, located suitably for * Distribution is financed through the credit, re- protection from weather and other hazards.43 moving dependence on allocations from recur- * Student desks have space for storing books and rent government budgets.33 other learning materials. 1. Distribution is carried out by private trans- * Students are taught to protect the books with porters selected through competitive bidding covers of durable paper or other materials. that includes evaluation of the bidders' ca- pacity.34 School management of textbooks44 2. Advance payments to transporters are lim- ited to about 30 percent of the total cost; the * Copies procured by the state are clearly marked balance is paid only on presentation of deliv- on the cover as public property and not for sale. ery receipts signed by, school directors or lo- They are easily distinguished from any commer- cal textbook committees.35 cial edition of the same textbook. * Learning materials are consolidated to reduce loss * The head teacher and/or a local textbook and damage in transport. Books are packaged and committee verify deliveries immediately. 54 AFRICA REGION HUMAN DEVELOPMENT WORKING PAPER SERIES * Each book received is marked with the name of '7 Primary Education Project (Cr 2191-UNI). the school, date of1receipt,and8au Primary Education Project (Cr 2810-MAI). the school, date of receipt, and a uique serial I' Second Human Resources Development Project (Cr 2473-SE). number. 20 Equity and School Improvement (Cr 2719-GUI). * Classroom teachers record the name of the stu- 2 Education and Technical Training Project (Cr 1519-ZR). dent receiving each textbook and ensure its re- 22 First Education Project (Cr 2375-ANG). 23 Fourth Education Project (Cr 1965-UG). turn at the end of the day or term. 24 The Gambia. Department of State for Education. Textbook * Teachers, students, and the local community are Management Handbook. sensitized to the value of textbooks and the need 25 Fourth Education Project (Cr 2244-BUR). for care in their use. 26 Basic Education Project-Education V (Cr 2501-CD). 27 Second Education Project (Cr 1359-CA). * Teachers are given detailed manuals for the man- 28 Education Sector Restructuring Project (Cr 1943-MAU). agement of textbooks. 29 Education Rehabilitation Project (Cr 2429-ZA). * Students are responsible for any copies lost or 30 First Education Project (Cr 1195-COM). do Higher Education Rationalization Project (Cr 1839-ZR). 32 Community Secondary Schools Construction Project (Cr 2278- GH). Use in the schools 33 For example, Malawi: Secondary Education Project (Cr 3051- Teacher training in the use of textbooks is incorpo- MAI). rated in the credit agreement.45 3 For example, Benin: Third Education Project (Cr 2613-BEN). r For example, Benin: Third Education Project (Cr 2613-BEN). 36 For example, Uganda: Third Education Project (Cr 1329-UG). Education Sector Strategic Program (Cr31 72-MOZ)3 7 For example, Burkina Faso: Fourth Education Project (Cr 2244- 2 Cmunity Secor S chools Cr PrOjec BUR). 2Community Secondary Schools Constr-uction Project (Cr2278- 38 For example, Uganda: Fourth Education Project (Cr 1965-UG). GH). 3 For example, Madagascar: Education Sector Development ITertiary Education Project (Cr 2428-GH). SeodEuainSco Cei C 03MI.Project (Cr 3046-MAG). Second Education Sector Credit (Cr 2083-MAI). 40 For example, Uganda: Third Education Project (Cr 1329-UG). G Education Sector Restructuring Project (Cr 1943-MAU); 41 For example, Cape Verde: Primary Education Upgrading Project General Education V (Cr 2706-MAU). (Cr 1853-CV); Uganda, Third Education Project (Cr 1329-UG); EThird Education Project (Loan 1792-SW). Angola, First Education Project (Cr 2735-ANG). 7 Education Rehabilitation Project (Cr 2429-ZA). 42 For example, Togo: Education Rehabilitation Project (Cr 2752- Education Rehabilitation Project (Cr 1950-CD). TO). Third Education Project (Cr 1329-UG). 43 For example, Uganda: Fourth Education Project (Cr 1965-UG). 0 General Education Project (Cr 2706-MAU). 44 For example, The Gambia: Department of State for Education. Second Education Credit (Cr 1751 -CV). Textbook Management Handbook. 12 Third Education Project (Cr 2613-BEN). T Forexample,Togo: EducationRehabilitationProject(Cr2752- 13 Fourth Education Project (Cr 2244-BUR). FO) 4 Improving Learning in Primary Schools (Cr 3318-MAI). TO). 5 Education Rehabilitation Project (Cr 2752-TO). 16 Basic Education Subsector Investment Program Support Project (Cr 3190-ZA). Vil Project Design and Implementation: Cost Recovery and Affordability Funding assistance to textbook provision classically through public agencies, often at subsidized prices. consists of one or two large printings to meet needs Others reduced the cost to parents by charging only that cannot be financed from the borrower's recur- a rental fee for the use of textbooks during the school rent budget. After that, there may be an expectation- year. at least a hope, at best a commitment-that the bor- Even a small rental fee, it was found, was too rowing country will maintain the stock from its own great for many families to pay. The charges hit the resources. Things have rarely worked out that way poorest families in rural areas and disadvantaged in Sub-Saharan Africa. In the late 1980s and the 1990s, groups hardest. In general, efforts to achieve sustain- most governments faced financial stringency as a re- ability have clashed with efforts to improve access to sult of low commodity prices and structural adjust- education. ment, not to speak of the devastation of natural or man-made disasters. National budgets in the social Cost Recovery through Sales by the Private or sector were hit hard, and new allocations for text- Public Sector books were swept aside, if they were even remem- In eighteen projects, books were sold to parents and bered. students by either the state or commercial firms. In As a result, textbook stocks designed to last three some cases, commercial firms sold books originated to five years gradually declined through use and loss. by a public agency and paid the government a fee or At the same time, enrollments increased through de- royalty on sales. Whether public or private, books mographic growth and externally funded improve- that were sold generally proved too expensive for ments to the education system. When the books were much of the population. worn out or lost, or became obsolescent, another credit The sales strategy achieved some success in would be negotiated that included new schoolbooks. Burkina Faso, using retailers, a parastatal, and the This hill-and-valley approach to textbook provision MOE as described in chapter 6. Out of more than 1.2 ran counter to prudent fiscal management and to the million textbooks procured or published by the MOE desire for sustainability in development. with Bank assistance, about 70 percent had been sold Some countries responded by delegating total at the time of the completion mission and sales were responsibility for textbook provision to the private I continuing. The average textbook price was CFAF 725 sector, which sold its products directly to students (US$1.40), a 36 percent mark up over the average cost and parents. Others retained responsibility for pro- F delivered to Ouagadougou. Proceeds from the sales vision, but worked, with the Bank's encouragement, were deposited in a textbook fund which, at the clos- to recover some or all of the cost of textbooks from ing of the credit, had a balance of CFAF 968 million the students and their parents. Some sold the books (US$1.88 million)-about 75 percent of the total cost 56 AFRICA REGION HUMAN DEVELOPMENT WORKING PAPER SERIES of producing textbooks under the project. Only about cluding quality control, the state acts as "school one-third of primary-age students were enrolled in protector," while committed to economic liberal- schools, however, and many parents did not send ism. It regulates the retail prices of textbooks, and their children to school because of costs.' twice has negotiated decreases. In addition to shareholder profits, it receives royalty payments. Subsidized sales During a World Bank seminar in 1997, Ivorian In several projects, governments have chosen to sub- textbook prices were said to be the lowest in sidize the price of books to benefit poorer families. francophone Africa, except where prices were Even this is often not enough. reduced by external subsidies . The two publish- ers estimated that 75 to 95 percent of Ivorian stu- * A project in Togo provided primary-level text- dents, depending on their grade and where they books in French and mathematics through state- lived, owned French and mathematics textbooks, owned bookshops at half the price prevailing in although fewer own books in other disciplines. private bookstores. Nevertheless, most pupils in (Sosale 1999: 63-70, 89-96, 103-105). rural areas, where 75 percent of the people live, In contrast, a World Bank appraisal mission still could not afford the books. The cost of a full in 1998 reported textbook-to-pupil ratios in C6te set of textbooks represented more than twice the d'Ivoire of only 1:5 in urban areas and 1:10 in entire average annual expense on education of a poorer, marginalized areas. A family's annual cost rural family-2 for textbooks for each child at primary school ranged from CFAF3,290 (US$5.50) in the first grade * Senegal sold books at about one-third the true to CFAF9,455 (US$15.80) in the upper grade, in a cost, but even so found the subsidy ineffective. In country where more than a third of the popula- 1998 fewer than 20 percent of students owned or tion lives below the poverty line and 45 percent had access to books financed by IDA, according of the population is under 15 years of age. Bank to a government study. The low figure was at- staff report that the cost of textbooks is among tributed to speculation by retailers, weakness in the highest in francophone Africa, out of most distribution, and parents' inability to pay. Only families' reach. They also criticize the quality of about half the parents responding to a survey in the textbooks, which have not been revised for 1999 bought textbooks in French; 22 percent some years. bought them in arithmetic, and 4 percent in so- A Bank credit will provide free textbooks to cial science. Under a current project, the govern- schools in the poorest regions of C6te d'Ivoire for ment will lend books free of charge to primary rent to students at moderate rates.4 The credit students and rent them to secondary students.3 was approved in 1998, but allocations for text- books were delayed until competition had been Regulated prices introduced in procurement. In jurisdictions with multiple choice in textbooks, competition among commercial firms should mod- Government commitment erate prices and encourage improved content and With subsidized prices, revenue from sales obviously service. In countries with single textbooks in each can never equal the full cost of replacing textbooks. subject-grade, some governments have regulated True sustainability can be achieved only if the gov- prices. Even so, in a monopoly both quality and price emient (or an external funder) makes up the differ- gre likely to suffer. Reports conflict about the effec- ence. Implementation of such schemes has proved tiveness of regulation in one African state: problematic: * In C6te d'Ivoire, two publishing houses, both * Mauritania tried to achieve sustainability in text- owned jointly by the state and a foreign pub- book provision under a credit approved in 1998. lisher, have a monopoly in primary-level text- The government would sell textbooks at heavily books. Through shareholding and regulation, in- subsidized prices and deposit the revenue in a WORLD BANK SUPPORT FOR PROVISION OF TEXTBOOKS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 1985-2000 57 fund to finance reprints and the operating costs Lesotho. The operation of its textbook fund was de- of the sales system. It would top up the fund with scribed at the Manchester conference, which was at- annual, allocations. Sales recovered less than 50 tended by funders and ministers of education (Brit- percent of what the books cost to manufacture ish Council 1992: 14-15); this increased interest in and distribute. The government, however, made the approach. Delegations from other countries, no counterpart provisions for the fund during among them Burkina Faso and Burundi, visited the project, in part because the amount required Lesotho to study it as a model. Lesotho, however, was was not spelled out clearly and in part because a special case: the government did not understand completely the fund's objectives and operating procedures. * Education in Lesotho is a decentralized partner- The fund did, however, provide resources to fi- ship between the government and civil society. nance replenishment that might not otherwise The government holds administrative, financial, have been available given declining national rev- and academic control of formal education, but enue. A follow-up project retained the sales sys- the churches (mainly Anglican, Evangelical, and tem, but with a government commitment to cover Roman Catholic) own and operate 97 percent of the cost of any loss or subsidies in the textbook the country's primary schools and 86 percent of fund.5 its secondary schools. The rental system is man- aged by the School Supply Unit of the MOE, but is Textbook Loans in Return for Rental Fees implemented principally at the parish level. Half the countries in the review experimented with About 90 percent of what should be collected whole or partial cost recovery by charging rental fees in rental fees reaches a central revolving fund. and depositing the revenue in a fund to be used for The fund always had enough money to buy text- reprinting existing titles or procuring new editions books, and in 1991 the government began allo- (see table 7.1 on the next page). cating funds each year from the recurrent bud- The revenue from sales and rentals was normally get for distribution and administrative costs. By put into a revolving fund to be used to replenish text- August 1993 the fund was reported to total 6.8 book stocks. The rental fee was usually set at a level million Maloti (about US$3.1 million). This was that would amortize a book's cost over its expected almost three times as much as was spent on cur- life. In theory, the system could be self-sustaining. In riculum and instructional materials during the practice, few systems reached that point. entire life of the then-current project:6 Rental-loan schemes were highly recommended in a summary report of book sector studies carried At the Manchester conference, the director of the out in nine African countries (Buchan and others 1991: Lesotho School Supply Unit identified three problems 21). The report was published in advance of a confer- that are, in fact, common to any rental scheme. They ence on textbook provision and library development are: held in Manchester a few months later. The authors argued that rental was preferable to either free dis- . Inaccurate enrollment figures and projections tribution, which governments could not finance, or . Late payment of fees sales, which many parents could not afford. Rental, * Unplanned introduction of new material or revi- however, had been tested in only one of the nine coun- sion in the curriculum, requiring unexpected pur- tries surveyed (Kenya, where parents in some schools chases of large quantities of textbooks. contributed to a fund to buy books). In three of the nine countries, the authors did not think that rental Most efforts to emulate the Lesotho model were was practical at the primary level-in Angola be- less successful. Rental schemes were abandoned af- cause of war and in Tanzania and Zambia because of ter only pilot tests in Malawi, where the fee of 1 poverty. kwacha (about US$0.38) per year, was far too low to The one country where textbook rental had been achieve sustainability, and in Uganda, where neither highly successful, although not in the study, was 58 AFRICA REGION HUMAN DEVELOPMENT WORKING PAPER SERIES Table 7.1 World Bank Projects Incorporating Cost Recovery through Rental Fees Country Project title Number Approved Benin Education Development Project C2613 1994 Burkina Faso Fourth Education Project C2244 1991 Primary Education Development Project (Education 1II) C1598 1985 Post-Primary Education Project N007 1997 Burundi Third Education Project C1358 1983 Fourth Education Credit C1881 1988 EmergencyAssistance C2668 1995 Cameroon Higher Education Technical Training Project C3110 1998 Comoros Third Education Project N031 1997 Second Education Project C1751 1987 Co6te d'lvoire Education and Training Support Project C3079 1998 Ethiopia Seventh Education Project C1873 1988 Education Sector Development Program C3077 1998 Gambia Second Education Sector Project C2142 1990 Third Education Sector Project C3128 1999 Ghana Community Secondary Schools Construction Project C2278 1991 First Education SectorAdjustment Credit C1744 1987 Second Education SectorAdjustment Credit C2140 1990 Basic Education Sector Improvement Program C2885 1996 Guinea Equity and School Improvement Project C2719 1995 Primary Education Project C1797 1990 Lesotho Third Education project C1148 1981 Education Sector Development Project C2287 1992 Mali Education Sector Expenditure Program C3449 2000 Mozambique Second Education Project C2200 1991 Nigera Prmary Education Project C2191 1991 Rwanda Third Education Project C1683 1986 Sao Tome e Principe Health and Education Project C2343 1992 Senegal Quality Education forAll C3333 2000 Somalia Education Rehabilitation Project (suspended) C2111 1990 Swaziland Third Education Project L1792 1980 Togo Education Rehabilitation Project C2752 1995 parents nor government proved able or willing to Following a change of government in 1994, support the program adequately. management of the Gambian rental system dete- The Gambia introduced rentals in 1992. For the riorated. Bank reports identified a number of prob- first three years, enough books were delivered to lems that afflicted the program and that, to vary- schools in a timely manner and about 85 percent of ing degrees, afflicted similar programs elsewhere: fees were recovered. The rental fee was subsidized, yet many rural parents were still unable or unwill- * Loss or theft of books by students and teachers ing to pay it. Even so, the scheme was considered a * Slow payment of fees best practice example in Africa. * Misappropriation of funds by teachers * Inadequate monitoring and record keeping WORLD BANK SUPPORT FOR PROVISION OF TEXTBOOKS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 1985-2000 59 * Inefficient and overordering of books to approve the fund's accounts for three successive * Inadequate staffing in system management years (1996-98). In 1998 they found that tens of mil- * Insufficient training of teachers and school ad- lions in CFCA francs were unaccounted for, invento- ministrators. ries could not be evaluated adequately; and books * High staff mobility apparently had been withdrawn from stock without * Failure to follow procedures subsequent billing. * Government failure to deposit funds intended to cover the cost of replenishment and increases in Interventions to Increase Accessibility enrollment. Subsidies, although well intentioned, reduce the cost of textbooks for families who can afford to buy or By 1997 The Gambia owed about US$900,000 to the rent them, while leaving them too expensive for a textbook supplier. At project end, the government greater number of the poor or disadvantaged. In Cape decided to lend textbooks free of charge to students Verde, the government has found a way to combine in grades 1 to 6 and to privatize management of text- cost recovery from sales with direct assistance, us- book rentals in grades 7 to 9. For the follow-up project, ing a semiautonomous organization that is sup- the government committed to cover fully any short- ported by public and private funds: falls in the textbook fund. Problems continued. As of November 1999, only 64 percent of fees had been re- * Cape Verde is an archipelago of small, resource- covered (80 percent had been set as a performance poor islands using Portuguese as a language of indicator), the private fee collectors were no longer instruction. The MOE procures primary-level active, and the MOE had taken over the operation.7 textbooks using ICB. Other problems were identified in Burkina Faso, Between 60 and 70 percent of the textbooks where the government had abandoned selling text- are sold through retail booksellers, mainly in the books and introduced rental at the Bank's insistence. two principal urban centers, by local educational Bank missions found that: authorities where no private bookshop exists, and by schools that place bulk orders directly with * Regulations for the scheme had been inadequately the MOE. The MOE charges 7 percent over cost to distributed cover shipping expenses, and the bookshops and * Most of the local offices that were intended to local authorities are limited to a 15 percent mark manage it were not functioning up beyond that. * There had been no public awareness program to The balance of the books are sold to the Cape prepare teachers, parents, and students for the Verde Institute of Social Action (ICASE), a semi- change in policy autonomous body, at cost plus 7 percent, to be * The rental scheme was too complex for parent lent to the poorest students without charge. ICASE associations to handle has been distributing books to poor students since * Most of the parents found the rental fee too high. 1981. It depends for financing largely on private The books were not always stamped and regis- donations, especially from the large Cape Verde tered on receipt at the schools emigrant population in the United States, and on * Students often did not take care of the books support from foundations and international agen- Books broke because of poor binding and so could cies. The government also gives it money for text- not be rented over as many years as planned. book distribution. Revenue from sales to all sources, including The scheme was abandoned for primary schools af- ICASE, is deposited in a revolving fund to be used ter the project's mid-term review.8 solely for reprinting textbooks. In 1999 the IDA In S6n6gal, sustainability would have been diffi- credit financed the appointment of a full-time cult, given poverty and weak distribution, but was fund manager. At the same time, a locally funded made impossible by mismanagement of the fund es- assistant was appointed to collect delinquent ac- tablished to receive sales revenue. Auditors refused counts. That year, the fund paid for all the text- 60 AFRICA REGION HUMAN DEVELOPMENT WORKING PAPER SERIES books required for replenishment and helped to recent projects for basic education, however, empha- ensure a sustainable supply of books to poor chil- size improving conditions in rural communities and dren. especially those areas most disadvantaged. A few The fund was originally in a private account contain targeted interventions: managed by a senior MOE secretary. At the Bank's suggestion, the fund was reconstituted to require * In Burkina Faso, enrollment of girls is encour- three signatures for any disbursement. aged by lending them free textbooks in areas ICASE is cautious in its provision of books. where they constitute less than 10 percent of the At the beginning of the term, teachers urge stu- school enrollment.'0 dents to buy books. After some time, the teachers * In C6te d'Ivoire, a current project identifies 116 talk to the parents and visit the homes of stu- targeted subprefectures where books will be pro- dents without books to assess need. On that ba- vided to the schools free of charge and rented to sis the teachers make recommendations to ICASE students for a modest sum. Elsewhere in C6te for support. d'Ivoire, textbooks will continue to be sold." The system is so effective that 90 percent of * In Nigeria, special attention will be paid to 740 primary students were reported to have text- focus schools (twenty in each state), chosen so books. During the same IDA project, Cape Verde that the most needy populations will benefit. achieved a net primary enrollment rate of almost These schools will be provided with supplemen- 99 percent -the first nation in Sub-Saharan Af- tary readers, library and reference books, steel rica to approach universal basic education9 book storage lockers, and instructional materi- als. Elsewhere in Nigeria, the project will con- Targeted Support and Demand-Side Financing tinue support for primary-level core materials."2 Priorities and Strategiesfor Education, a Bank policy re- view issued in 1995, promised greater attention to Some education projects incorporate demand- equity in Bank-supported projects. Special attention side financing components that may improve access would be paid to education for girls, disadvantaged to textbooks for disadvantaged groups. Projects in ethnic minorities, and the poor. Projects would sup- Mozambique and Tanzania provide scholarships and port household involvement in school governance, bursaries for girls. One in Zambia finances bursaries quality-enhancing mechanisms, recurrent cost fi- for poor children.'3 nancing, and demand-side financing (World Bank 1995: 15). Free-of-Charge Textbook Loans Patrinos and Ariasingam (1997) subsequently Many countries have tested some form of cost recov- explored the use of demand-side financing, whereby ery, but have reverted to lending textbooks to pri- public funds are given directly to individuals or in- mary students without charge to encourage access stitutions on the basis of expressed demand. The Bank to education. Examples have been given above. Some has supported demand-side support programs to recent projects have incorporated free loans at the encourage attendance by girls that include stipends primary level. and free textbooks. Notional or actual budgets for schools to choose and buy their own textbooks are * Senegal has abandoned subsidized sales and, another form of demand-side financing. This type of under a new ten-year program, will lend text- financing has the great advantage of involving the books to primary students without charge. Books users in choice, thereby increasing commitment. will be rented at the secondary level. Initial pur- Families must choose to join a stipend program for chases of textbooks will be made under a three- the benefit of their daughters; schools may choose year IDA credit approved in 2000.'4 Thereafter, the books best suited for their pupils. the government will be expected to replenish Support for textbook provision in Sub-Saharan most or all supplies through its recurrent bud- Africa has been more systemwide than targeted, as get, buying from the private sector under a de- have been subsidies to reduce textbook costs. Many veloping system of multiple choice. The program WORLD BANK SUPPORT FOR PROVISION OF TEXTBOOKS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 1985-2000 61 was designed following four years of economic Summary of Best Practices reform and improved performance in one of the world's poorest nations. The target is to provide * Textbooks are lent free of charge at the primary three books per student. level. They may be rented at the secondary level."8 Under another credit approved in 2000, Mali has . Where cost recovery is undertaken, books are also adopted free loans to primary-level students, made available to students who cannot afford with targets of two books per student in the first them through intervention by government or six grades and four books per student in grades 7 NGOs. Interventions may be systemwide or tar- to 9. Textbooks will be rented in the three second- geted to specific groups such as girls or rural stu- ary-level grades. A ten-year program similar to dents."9 Senegal's, will privatize provision, consider mul- * Parents, students, and communities are sensi- tiple choice an option, and introduce textbooks tized to the need for cost recovery in the second- in national languages. ary grades. Where prices or rental fees are subsi- dized, parents are told they are paying only a When books are borrowed, some countries re- portion of the true cost. Support from funders or quire parents to pay a deposit that is refunded when donors and the government is recognized.20 the books are returned at the end of the year. Sao _ _ Tome e Principe opted for a substantial deposit, which was resented when it was introduced, but was gradu- Primary Education Development Project (Cr 1 598-BUR). ally accepted as long as books were available in only 2 Educational Improvement Project in Togo (Cr 1568-TO). a few subjects. The government recognized that the 3 Second Human Resources Development Project (Cr 2473-SE); deposit system would become unbearably expensive Quality Education for All (Cr 3333-SE). once textbooks were available in all subjects. The sys- 4 Education and Training Support Project (Cr 3079-IVC). tem also proved unexpectedly cumbersome to ad- Education Sector Restructuring Project (Cr 1943-MAU); minister. The government decided to change to a sys- General Education V (Cr 2706-MAU). tem of users' fees that may eventually make textbook 6 Education Sector Development Project (Cr 2287-LSO). provision self-sustaining." Second Education Sector Project (Cr 2142-GM); Third A few countries have never wavered from free Education Sector Project (Cr 3128-GM). provision. One is relatively wealthy Botswana, which Fourth Education Project (Cr 2244-BUR). consistently allocated a major proportion (from 17 to Basic Education and Training Project (Cr 2675). 21 percent) of its recurrent budget to education dur- '° Fourth Education Project (Cr 2244-BUR). ing the first six years of the review period and has Education and Training Support Project (Cr 3079-IVC). not required IDA support for textbook provision since 2 Second Primary Education Project (Cr 3346-UNI). a loan closed in 1991.16 Another is Niger, one of the '3 Education Sector Strategic Program (Cr 3172-MOZ); Human world's poorest countries, which has a rapidly grow- Resource Development Pilot; Basic Education Subsector ing population, 85 percent of it rural.jThe govern- Investment Program (Cr 3190-ZA). ment lends books free of charge in view of the general '4 Quality Education forAll Program (Cr 3333-SE). poverty, the urgent need to improve access to books, Health and Education Credit (Cr 2343-STP). and the positive effect expected on the enrollment of 16 Fourth Education Project (Loan 2644-BT). girls. Management of textbook supplies was given to " Basic Education Sector Project (Cr 261 8-NIR). local school committees of parents and teachers. But is For example, Senegal: Quality Education for All Program, Cr in 1997 the government was spending only the 3333-SE). equivalent of US$1 per student per year on instruc- 19 For example, Cape Verde: Basic Education and Training Project tional materials, one-fifth of the level recommended (Cr 2675) and Burkina Faso, Fourth Education project (Cr by a World Bank policy paper that year. Without a 2244-BUR). major change in fiscal allocation-unlikely given the 20 For example, Uganda: Third Education Project (Cr 1 329-UG). economy of the country-provision of textbooks will have to depend on continued renewals of external aid.17 Vill Project Design and Implementation: Issues and Responses he subjects discussed in the previous chap- nance about ll percent. The long-term program en- ters are common to projects incorporating the visages the decentralization of textbook selection and provision of textbooks and learning materi- procurement to regions, districts, and schools. The als. From time to time, special issues arise, stemming private sector will edit, produce, and distribute the from policy decisions or other causes. This chapter books, in national languages and French. This is an looks at the most significant of these and how the ambitious and fundamental change in policy, for Bank has responded. which experimentation under a LIL project should prove a valuable investment. Short-Term or Emergency Issues Some Bank officials have found that LILs tend to grow over time and that the costs of administration Learning and Innovation Loans may be disproportionate to the size of the loan. They A Learning and Innovation Loan (LIL) has been used have also found that, even though approval of LILs in Mali to develop and assess the merits of instruc- may be swift, implementation, as in other projects, tion in both a mother tongue and French. Early evi- may lag. dence suggests that students taught through the bi- That was the experience of a project (not a LIL) lingualpedagogieconvergenteperformsignificantlybet- that was fast-tracked in 1996 to meet a crisis in ter than those taught only in French. Testing of the Malawi's primary schools. The government had abol- new approach was essentially ad hoc, however, and ished all fees and associated costs for primary educa- was carried out in only about 300 schools, using text- tion in 1994, with the result that gross enrollment books of poor quality. grew in a single year by 68 percent. In response, the A three-year, US$3.8 million LIL project will en- Bank approved a four-year project to supplement an able the government to go to scale with bilingual edu- overall integrated sector credit. Subsequent reports cation in different kinds of schools and to determine on the project conflict in detail, but do not suggest in what conditions the method is applicable and af- speed. In mid-1997 distribution of textbooks and fordable. It will examine means of revising, produc- learning materials was held up because of late pay- ing, and distributing improved textbooks in six na- ments to transporters. Training of staff in the use of tional languages through private publishers. It will books was delayed because of ambiguities in the as- also test the capacity of communities to carry the signment of responsibility. By the spring of 2000, books from regional offices and store them securely about US$3 million in credit funds for textbooks and during school holidays.' learning materials and about US$1 million for train- Lessons learned from these tests will be incorpo- ing had been diverted to civil works, which were se- rated in a ten-year program of educational support riously overdrawn.2 estimated at US$1,591 million, of which IDA will fi- 64 AFRICA REGION HUMAN DEVELOPMENT WORKING PAPER SERIES Conflicts and emergencies it has often led to involvement, if not dominance, of Textbooks are destroyed in the course of natural di- the market by transnational companies with deep sasters and human conflicts; the Bank has provided pockets and long-established lists that could be funding to replenish supplies. In Sudan, IDA financed adapted quickly to national needs. The other approach the construction of forty-eight primary schools to was designed to provide for an orderly transition replace buildings destroyed or severely damaged by and to nurture indigenous publishing. devastating rains and floods and equipped them with Uganda and Tanzania illustrate differences in textbooks and furniture.3 funders' strategies and governments' commitment to An education credit was under way in Rwanda change. Both also attest to the time needed to revive when genocide erupted. Its terms were fortunately private sector publishing capacity that has been evis- sufficiently general that, with flexibility and imagi- cerated by government monopoly. nation, the funds could be used to restore access to education without additional Board approval. Edu- * In Uganda, flourishing printing and publishing cation in Rwanda was further assisted under emer- industries collapsed during the Idi Amin dicta- gency credits in 1995 and 1997 and a special emer- torship, as did the ability of parents and schools gency grant in 1998. A fast-track approach was taken to buy textbooks and instructional materials. In in 2000 with a credit that will finance the adapta- 1983 and 1989 the Bank approved emergency text- tion, development, production, and distribution of book purchases of books written largely by Ugan- about 1.187 million textbooks in Kinyarwanda, dans, but imported from abroad. An additional French, and English.4 credit, approved in 1993, was designed to revi- A first education project in Angola was approved talize the country's private sector publishing and in 1992. The civil war that had begun with indepen- printing.6 dence seemed to be slowing, but refugees from the Under the plan, publishers submit textbooks countryside were crowding urban schools. Primary- to the MOE for evaluation and authorization. Dis- level textbooks were scarce. Most dated from the im- trict selection committees, using budget alloca- mediate post-independence period and were badly tions based on school enrollment, choose books in need of revision. Even so, they were being sold on that have been approved for use in the schools. the black market for the equivalent of US$15.00- Publishers compete for selection on the basis of twenty times the official price. In a country still in price, presentation, support, and promotion. Book conflict and so pervasively mined that travel was orders are consolidated at the center, and bulk dangerous, the project concentrated on building dem- prices negotiated with the publishers. onstration models in selected islands of relative peace To support this major change, the project pro- and security. vided for a multifaceted training program for the After the peace accord of 1994, the reforms tested MOE's textbook unit and the private sector. The in the models were replicated elsewhere in Angola. government spent about US$20 million on learn- Substantial undisbursed funds were transferred to ing materials between 1993 and 1997, drawing new priorities during the mid-term review. This in- on local currency counterpart funds from volved a giant leap-from a target of 53,000 textbooks nonproject aid that USAID was providing. and 6,500 library books at appraisal to the eventual Within two years a dozen publishers were procurement and distribution of more than 1.2 mil- participating, some locally owned and others joint lion textbooks.5 ventures with international partners. The num- ber of bookshops grew from five in Kampala to Liberalization twenty-five, with more outside the capital. Governments and funders have been divided in their The Ugandan book chain is developing, but approach to liberalization. One camp has wanted to its local base-even after more than half a decade free production as quickly as possible. The other has of such activity-is still narrow. The number of sought a phased development of local capacity. The local publishers is small, and sales of textbooks first approach is intended to meet immediate needs; have not yet been matched in other kinds of books. WORLD BANK SUPPORT FOR PROVISION OF TEXTBOOKS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 1985-2000 65 More than 90 percent of the primary-level text- in international procurement, and distrust books are still published by British-based among the several players. Some commercial transnationals who have local partners that are publishers and booksellers believed that the gov- basically only marketing agents. Most of the print- emment should move faster in devolving spend- ing is done abroad, because local printers lack ing power. Government approval of tenders was the capacity and cannot afford to build capacity so slow that, in the interval, global prices of pa- without lucrative textbook jobs. Without any per rose substantially, causing severe financial attempt at cost recovery, the provision of pri- problems for successful publishers. Most local mary-level textbooks remains dependent on ex- publishers were small and lacked capital. A Bank ternal funding (Tumusiime 1998a: 101-102; mission was concerned that the limited market Tumusiime 1998b: 12-13; Tumusiime 1999: 3; for books and publishers' lack of access to credit Salahi 1998: 12-15; Katama 1997: 4-5). could prevent full implementation of the * In mainland Tanzania, textbook provision was government's stated policy (Bank reports plus entirely state managed until 1991. Late that year Bgoya and others 1997: 26-27; Stridsman 1999: the govemment announced a new policy, devel- 85-86; Sida 1996; Nyambura 1998: 13). oped during negotiations for a Bank credit.7 Its goals were to privatize the textbook industry, Some govemments took a middle course in liber- introduce competition, decentralize selection to alization, opening the door to the private sector, while the school level, and make it possible for families retaining, at least in the short term, a dominant posi- to buy textbooks through retail outlets. A transi- tion for themselves: tional period of unspecified length was allowed. The time would depend on growing capacities . Kenya sought to encourage private sector distri- within the book trade and MOE. bution and reduce inefficiencies in central pro- IDA agreed to finance new textbooks for sec- curement. District offices consolidated school re- ondary schools through ICB. The Swedish Inter- quests for textbooks and ordered the books from national Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) local booksellers (ADEA/UNESCO 1999). was to finance primary-level books. planned to * Mozambique retained public sector publishing restrict competitive bidding to local qualified of textbooks, but opened the market to private firms. competitors. Foreign publishers may participate As a first step, Sida provided commercial if they establish themselves and publish in publishers with technical assistance in manage- Mozambique and if they build local knowledge ment and publishing operations. Sida concur- through training and technology transfer. The rently funded a consultancy to strengthen exist- transition from state monopoly to competition is ing public sector management. scheduled for completion in 2004.8 State-originated textbooks were initially ten- * In Zambia the MOE developed new textbooks to dered to private firms for editing, design, and the camera-ready proof stage and opened bid- production. In 1996 full responsibility for initiat- ding for their printing and publication. The gov- ing and publishing was turned over to the pri- I emiment also encouraged commercial publishers vate sector. In the same year, taxes and duties on, to issue competing books. The curriculum design imported printing paper were eliminated, remov- center publishes an annual list of approved and ing the advantage enjoyed by imported books' recommended books. The MOE's long-term strat- that entered duty free. egy will allow district education boards to choose By 1997 forty-nine titles developed by thei and buy books for their own schools.9 state had been tendered to the private sector and twenty-one had been delivered. Progress toward Decentralization liberalization was slowed, however, by govern- Three long-term projects approved between 1998 and ment inaction, lack of a clear official interpreta- 2000 incorporate major administrative restructur- tion of policy, limited private sector experience 66 AFRICA REGION HUMAN DEVELOPMENT WORKING PAPER SERIES ing. They are based in Zambia, Ethiopia, and Senegal erature, newspapers, and booklets (in Ethiopia's (discussed in the next section). case, in multiple languages). This required train- In Zambia, most decisions affecting pupils and ing authors, editors, and publishing staff. teachers were taken until recently at MOE headquar- * Examinations. A new national organization for ex- ters, in consultation with provincial officers. The gov- aminations was established in 1996. Its adminis- erunent has undertaken to establish an education trative and technical capacity required strength- board in each district, secondary school, and teacher ening, especially in educational measurement and training college. A pilot board was established in the examination instruments. It would have to deal Copperbelt District in 1996. Others were to be estab- with regional variations in grading capacities and lished in at least 60 percent of the districts by mid- problems that might arise in administering ex- 2001. By 2005 half the district schools are expected to aminations in different languages. be buying and distributing textbooks to their schools.10 The Ethiopian project illustrates the importance Decentralization in Ethiopia illustrates the com- of: plexities of change and key areas of necessary devel- opment. Ethiopia switched to a federal structure of * Clearly defined procedures for devolved respon- administration following a change of government in sibilities 1993 and decentralized administration of public edu- * Training at the lower levels in those procedures cation. The federal ministry's principal role now is and the operations involved setting national policies and strategies and monitor- * Incentives for people at those levels to adhere to ing their implementation. Eleven regional educa- reporting and other accountability guidelines tional bureaus have the major responsibility for de- * Procedures and training in accounting for funds, livering primary and secondary education. stock management, secure storage, and the main- A Bank appraisal mission in 1998 noted that the tenance and repair of textbooks. regions varied in their capacity to adapt national policies and programs." They had made impressive The Canadian International Development Agency progress, but much remained to be done in four areas (2000:11) has pointed out other concerns-that na- that are critical in any decentralization: tional governments maintain their own commitments to education, while devolving responsibilities, and * Financial management and procurement. Few regions that decentralization does not increase inequities in had experience with the procedures and guide- providing educational resources. lines for financial management and procurement The government of Guinea ignored many of these involving donors and on so large a scale. Staff issues. The findings of an evaluation team provide a had to be added, trained, and retained. Intensive catalogue of what can go wrong in a program for initial training would have to be followed by pe- decentralization (AED 1998: 50-58). riodic reinforcement. * Information management. Staff, training, equipment, * In the design of the IDA credit, existing associa- and logistical support had to be developed at all tions of parents and friends of the schools were levels of administration. Regions would be en- to be responsible for replacing damaged and lost couraged to create capacity in data processing copies of textbooks through the proceeds of a text- and analysis at lower levels, so that findings there book rental system."2 These associations had been could become immediately useful. nurtured and trained by an NGO. In implement- . Curriculum development and textbook provision. With ing the project, the government vested manage- decentralization, each region had the freedom to ment of textbook rental in new local committees. adapt the national curriculum to suit regional * Circulars establishing the committees did not conditions. Each then had to create, adapt, buy, agree on their composition. or translate teaching materials in each subject- grade, plus glossaries, dictionaries, creative lit- WORLD BANK SUPPORT FOR PROVISION OF TEXTBOOKS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 1985-2000 67 * Committees in several primary schools had not orders and the Bank financed procurement through received enough information or training in text- ICB.14 book management before books arrived. In Uganda, where publishers visited schools in- * Of 400 schools, prefectoral offices, and prefectoral dividually, teachers tended initially to order small educationofficesvisited,fewerthanhalfhadpro- numbers of several competing books in order to jected annual needs for books and only 11 per- sample their qualities. They presumably then in- cent had prepared a budget. tended to select the textbook best suited to their pu- * Half the staff questioned did not know who di- pils and order it in quantity. Such a practice is effec- rected their operation or to whom that person tive only with the certainty of continuing support was responsible. Only one in five understood the for textbook purchase. financial mechanisms that had been put in place. Mali is to choose between a single text and mul- • Procedures for distribution of textbooks to the tiple text system under a credit approved in the last schools were not always well known and proce- days of 2000.15 Senegal has opted for multiple choice dures for receiving the books were not always under a credit approved a few months earlier.'6 Both followed. countries have just 10 million people, which has been * Only two in five respondents considered effec- suggested as a threshold for economic multiple choice. tive systems were in place to detect irregulari- Both programs have ten-year horizons. ties and errors. The change to multiple choice in Senegal is part * Procedures for maintenance, care, and security of a broader policy of privatization of textbook pro- of the books were for the most part neglected for duction and distribution, support for local publish- lack of adequate storage space and detailed in- ers, introduction of national languages for instruc- structions. tion, free provision of textbooks in the primary * No comprehensive operations manual existed. grades, and attainment of universal basic education. The detailed design of the project indicates how care- Multiple Choice fully such a transition must be prepared. The benefits of multiple choice require selection at the local or district level, where the needs, capacities, . Publishers will be invited to propose textbook and experience of students are best known. Under series based on curricula and national standards one project in Nigeria, textbooks were procured from to be developed by the national pedagogical in- several competing publishers but were allocated to stitute. schools centrally. As a result, not all schools received . The best books will be approved for use by a na- the books best suited for their pupils, nor were the tional commission established for this purpose. teachers adequately trained in using them."3 * In each inspectorate, a commission will be estab- Multiple choice requires significant preparation lished to choose the series to be used in its schools. of teachers, not only in the use of the books, but also * Teachers will be trained, and parents and pub- in their selection. Ministries publish lists of autho- lishers informed. rized books, but rarely if ever provide annotation . Bidding documents will be drafted for procur- (such as extracts from evaluators' reports) that could ing, through open competition, two to three titles assist teachers or local officials in making selections. in three core subjects at each grade of the pri- In sorme countries, teachers inspect textbooks at mary and middle schools. book fairs,' organized at the district level. In Malawi, * A small number (about 2,000 copies) of each title the publishers' association held twenty-three re- chosen will be bought and shipped as samples to gional fairs at which senior school staff could choose the individual inspectorates. secondary-level textbooks and library books within . Inspectorate staff and teachers will be trained in allocated notional budgets. DANIDA, the Danish in- choosing from the available series. temational development agency, then aggregated the . Book warehouses will be built in each inspec- torate. 68 AFRICA REGION HUMAN DEVELOPMENT WORKING PAPER SERIES * Book orders from the individual inspectorates Local publishers will be encouraged to publish Afri- will be aggregated in the capital and procured in can-centered texts reflecting local experience, with bulk. which children and their families can identify. * A stock management system will be put in place. Community Involvement All these steps are to be in place for grade 1 sub- Local stakeholders have been assigned management jects by the end of the first phase of the program in roles in several recent education projects. Textbooks 2003. By 2007 it is expected that the process will be have been seen as one of the easier components in complete up to grade 3. All primary grades are to be which this policy can be implemented. served by the end of the program in 2010. During the Parents or the community have been expected to second and third phases, the availability and use of contribute directly to provision of textbooks in some books will be monitored to ensure that the target ra- projects. In others, parent-teacher associations have tio of three books per student is respected. been given direct responsibility for the management of textbook rental plans. Strengthening Local Publishing Capacity In Benin, for example, the government and par- Current projects are paying increased attention to ent-teacher associations have shared the cost of main- development of local publishing capacity as part of taining and replenishing books.'9 In Burkina Faso, a the trend toward privatization. Earlier efforts in committee of parents and teachers in each school was Uganda and Tanzania have already been described to be responsible for textbook rentals.30 In Togo, a simi- in the section on liberalization.. lar committee in each school, chaired by the head In Mali, a ten-year program envisages workshops teacher, was to ensure the safekeeping of textbooks that reinforce in-country capacity for drafting, illus- and use the proceeds of rentals to replace lost or dam- trating, editing, and designing textbooks.'7 Bank-fi- aged copies .2 nanced training of.this naturehasbeenincreasingly Nigeria is testing a self-help program for school nanced training of th e pincreasingl improvement that can include teaching-learning opened to publishing staff from the private sector. materials. An IDA credit will finance about US$3,000 The Bank has also held three regional workshops to in each of 900 projects. Communities will initiate the acquaint local publishers with its procedures for pro- projects and will have to contribute at least 20 per- curement: in Nairobi in 1995 (anglophone), Accra in cent of the total cost in kind, labor, or cash. The pro- 1998 (anglophone and francophone), and Conakry in gram is intended to mobilize supplementary re- 1999 (francophone). As a result, more and more Afri- sources at a time when total public spending for pri- can publishers and printers have been participating mary education in Nigeria, already far below the re- in Bank-financed procurement of textbooks and are gional average, is shrinking in real terms. The projects winning more and more contracts. are also expected to enhance accountability through In Mali and S6n6gal,'8 literacy training will en- community involvement. They may include small courage reading in the home-a strategy that should grants to teachers to enable them to buy teaching- further assist local publishers by broadening their learning materials, the completion of a community market at the same time that it reinforces the literacy library building close to the school, and provision of taught in the classroom. Family members will be of- supplementary readers and reference materials to the fered classes in reading at the same time as their chil- school or community library.22 dren are taught it in school. Parents will be encour- In Comoros, local management of educational aged to help their children with homework. Supple- resources was built on a long history of community mentary reading materials will be made available involvement in financing, managing, and operating for use at home, complementing book nooks in all social activities. With this basis, a new educational classrooms. policy was developed in the mid-1990s in consulta- In both countries, the literacy program will use tion with about 100 representatives of government, the local language spoken at home. The Senegal regional and local authorities, village notables, par- project envisages the use of national authors and de- ents, teachers, students, private and public enter- velopment of books with locally relevant content. prises, and national consultants. Local communities WORLD BANK SUPPORT FOR PROVISION OF TEXTBOOKS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 1985-2000 69 were given responsibilities in education. The primary teacher association welcome their delivery. The cer- beneficiaries (youth, their families, the village, and emony encourages community interest in the care of employers) were empowered through contracts in- this physical investment in the children's education. volving partnership and productivity. The Bank as- sisted the establishment of school committees and Governmental Capacity and Commitment supported their development in the poorest areas of In more than one project, the MOE proved incapable Comoros.n The committees, among other responsi- of fulfilling all the demands placed on it by imple- bilities, collect and administer user fees for textbooks mentation of an overambitious design. The problem and are responsible for the distribution, storing, and was particularly acute in small countries with a use of books and other learning materials. small corps of civil servants, many of whom already Local responsibility for textbook funds has not had more than one major official responsibility in always been successful. Madagascar abandoned such addition to civil society and personal obligations. a program, because of parents' limited ability to pay.24 In Cape Verde, implementation of the current In Comoros, an audit committee pointed to the prob- educational project was delayed for several months, lems that could arise when parent-teacher associa- because of a shortage of staff and local consultants.28 tions were expected to open bank accounts and sign In Guinea-Bissau, a project completion report con- jointly in a country where few banks exist and money cluded that: must be carried long distances.25 Stakeholder involvement has also failed when it Nationwide basic education reform is too was less than meaningful. In Ghana during the mid- ambitious to undertake for a country such as 1990s, parents were expected to be active in school Guinea-Bissau. IDA overestimated the capacity management; however, some teachers resented pa- of the implementing agencies and expected rental "intrusion" and many parents saw their role results far too quickly. INDE [the National only as providing supplementary financial support. Institute of Educational Development], which was As a result, parents felt little ownership of the schools a new institution, did not have the capacity to that their children were attending. Many distrusted carry out the tasks it was charged with .. . nor efforts to increase community involvement, lest it be was it able to provide leadership for the various an excuse for extracting additional financial contri- actors in the reform.29 butions. Bank staff concluded that: A special difficulty can arise when a government The key to successful community participation is has to implement several development projects con- to ensure that, having regard to distinct features, currently and is expected to identify local counter- local people have a real influence over decisions parts. Bray and Packer (1993: 137) cite an analysis of that affect the quality of education their children counterpart requirements in Lesotho. Sixty-five per- receive. Ultimately, communities are likely to cent of the upper third of Lesotho's entire civil ser- reject mechanisms that are seen as simply vice-not just in the MOE-would have had to be advisory or established to "rubber stamp" reassigned to aid projects to meet the collective re- decisions taken by school or system officials.26 quirements of the education sector alone. Goverrnments have also struggled to find coun- In contrast, an IDA-supported project in Uganda Governments hav as str fin d coun- Iterp art funds and to meet financial commitments rekindled the interest of parents in school perfor- made under agreements with IDA. Some made sig- mance. The parent-teacher associations became ac- I ncantefforts, . Twoexamples werethegovernments tive in the reception of educational materials from { of Malawi and Mali. In the wake of greatly increased the district education offices and sometimes orga-i enrollments, Malawi more than doubled allocations nized the transport of materials to the schools.27 for education in a few years, from 11 percent of the In several countries, the arrival of textbooks has total recurrent budget in fiscal 1998-89 to about 23.8 become an occasion of local celebration. The mayor, percent in fiscal 1994-95 and 25.2 percent in fiscal education dignitaries, and members of the parent- 1997-98.3° Mali tripled its expenditures on educational 70 AFRICA REGION HUMAN DEVELOPMENT WORKING PAPER SERIES materials and classroom maintenance between 1994 The difficulty sometimes began with the design and 1996 in order to sustain the qualitative and quan- of projects through a failure to involve local stake- titative impact of an IDA-financed project.3" holders adequately in the planning. A Bank mission Other Bank reports express disappointment, if to Zaire in 1994 concluded that not enough consen- not frustration. Three examples: sus building had taken place in the preparation of an education project. As a result, government assur- Most schools are not receiving any resourc- ances "meant very little more than words" and many es from the Government budget, despite specif- sector reform conditions were never respected.3" ic line items for pedagogical materials and, at Three more fundamental impediments to textbook the secondary level, for specific schools . . . Allo- provision were identified in a range of projects: cations to primary schools were linked to visits by inspectors or "negotiations" with the Minis- * The relative weakness of ministers of education try's warehouse, and did not consider the num- vis-a-vis ministers of finance ber of students or teachers in the school. Execu- . The high proportion of recurrent expenses for tion of secondary school budgets seemed . . . education that is consumed by teachers' salaries, more related to the ability of the headmaster to leaving only a tiny fraction for textbooks and influence different levels of the "circuit de paie- other learning-teaching materials ment" than to the needs of the school. (Central * The high priority still given in many countries to African Republic)32 secondary and particularly higher education, the Trucks were bought [for purposes including amount of money devoted to subsidizing educa- the delivery of textbooks] with credit financing, tion at those levels, and the opposition of en- but the government has not allocated money for trenched elites to any change in the balance. paying drivers or for buying fuel or for ensuring the maintenance of the vehicles. (Chad)33 International policies of debt reduction should Revised and approved materials . . . were relieve some of the fiscal stringency brought about not yet published at project completion . .. The by low commodity prices, inflation, and severely con- Bank textbook specialist made three trips to strained government budgets. For the first time in Equatorial Guinea and provided hands-on decades, many countries will have money to increase assistance in preparing the printing procurement allocations for education. In addition, the current documents, but this did not result in concrete positive international climate favoring education is action . . . Related activities that depended on likely to lead to increased external financial support this second printing such as training of trainers for education in Africa. It is still too early to judge the and teachers in the use of the new materials did impact of these new policies, but reason for optimism not take place. (Equatorial Guinea)34 exists if governments are willing to make the needed effort. Project implementation suffered from changes in government and staff. A new minister of education in Summary of Best Practices Madagascar discharged the team operating the country's new and effective computerized stock man- Short-term or emergency issues: agement system, with the result that training had to start again.5 In Burkina Faso, a well-managed text- * Short-term, relatively small credits, such as book revolving fund was threatened by governmen- Learning and Innovation Loans, are used to test tal complaints about the cost of replenishment, and new approaches in advance of long-term major by transfer of the account from a commercial bank to credits.39 the general Treasury.36 In Chad, one project had four * Credits are designed with enough flexibility to directors and fifteen ministers of education in a single permit rapid revision in response to emergen- five-year period.37 cies.40 WORLD BANK SUPPORT FOR PROVISION OF TEXTBOOKS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 1985-2000 71 Liberalization: crease community sense of ownership and re- sponsibility, enhance accountability, and in many * Programs involving liberalization include train- cases improve decisionmaking.45 ing to build national capacity in textbook devel- . Local involvement is introduced through a pro- opment and evaluation and in publishing man- cess of consultation and consensus.46 agement and professional skills.4' _____________ Decentralization42: Improving Learning in Primary Schools (Cr 3318-MLI). 2 Primary Education Project (Cr 2810-MAI). I Emergency Flood Reconstruction Project (Cr 201 I-SU). * Clearly defined procedures are established for 4 Third Education Project (Cr 2227-RW) and Human Resources decentralization of textbook development and Development Project (Cr 3367-RW). I First Education Project (Cr 2375-ANG). procurement. 6 Primary Education and Teacher Development Project (Cr 2493- * Local administrative units, schools, and commu- UG). nities are clearly informed about the goals and ' Education Planning and Rehabilitation Project (Cr 2137-TA). procedures of decentralization. 8 Education Sector Strategic Program (Cr 3172-MOZ). 9 Zambia Education Rehabilitation Project (Cr 2429-ZA). * Projects incorporate training in several areas. The ' Basic Education Subsector Investment Program Support Project most important subjects are financial manage- (Cr 3190-ZA). ment, procurement procedures, information " Education Sector Development Program (Cr 3077-ET). management, curriculum development, textbook 12 Equity and School Improvement Project (Cr 2719-GUI). mng etce , t k '3 Primary Education Project (Cr 2191-UNI). preparation, and textbook evaluation. Training '4 Secondary Education Project (Cr 305 1-MAI). in some subjects will have to be carried on at "Education Sector Expenditure Program (Cr 3449-MLI). several levels of administration. 16 Quality Education forAll Program (Cr 3333-SE). Education Sector Expenditure Program (Cr 3449-M LI). 18 Education Sector Expenditure Program (Cr 3449-MLI); Quality Multiple choice4": Education forAll Program (Cr 3333-SE). '9 Education Development Project (Cr 2613-BEN). * Selection is made at the local or district level, 20 Post-Primary Education Project (N 007-BUR). where the needs, capacities, and experience of 21 Educational Improvement Project (Cr 1568-TO). 22 Second Primary Education Project (Cr 3346-UNI). students are best known. 23 Third Education Project (N 031-COM). * Orders are consolidated at a senior level for effi- 24 Education Sector Reinforcement Project (Cr 2094 MAG). ciency in accounting and to obtain benefits from Second Education Credit (Cr 175 1-COM). bulk purchases. 26 SAR, Basic Education Sector Improvement Program (Cr 2885- GH). * A national body is responsible for evaluating and 27 Third Education Project (Cr 1329-UG). authorizing textbooks and other learning mate- 28 Education and Training Consolidation and Modernization rials for use in the schools. Its procedures are ob- Project (Cr 3223-CV). 29 Basic Education Development Project (1914-GUB). jective and transparent (see chapter 4). As re- 30 Second Education Sector Credit (Cr 2083-MAI). quired, this national body is provided with tech- II Education Sector Consolidation Project (Cr 2054-MLI). nical assistance in devising procedures and train- 32 Staffmemorandum, August 22, 1996. * national evaluators. Basic Education Credit (Cr 2501-CD), staff memorandum, ing natlonal evaluators.translated, May 13,1997. * Book fairs are an effective means of exposing teach- 34 Primary Education Project (Cr 1797-EG), ICR, June 25, 1997. ers to authorized textbooks and learning materi- 35 Education Sector Development Project (Cr 3064-MAG). als. Sample copies may be made available through 36 Fourth Education Project (Cr2244-BUR). do Education Rehabilitation Project (Cr 1950-CD). district or regional of fices.44 38 Higher Education Rationalization Project (Cr 1839-ZR). 3 For example, Mali: Improving Learning in Primary Schools (Cr Local stakeholders: 3318-MLI). 40 For example, Rwanda: Third Education Project (Cr 2227-RW). L k For example, Uganda: Primary Education and Teacher Development Project (Cr 2493-UG); Tanzania, Education school level, are involved in textbook manage- Planning and Rehabilitation Project (Cr2137-TA). ment. Local involvement has been found to in- 42 For example, Ethiopia: Education Sector Development Program (Cr 3077-ET). 4 For example, Uganda: Primary Education and Teacher Development Project (Cr 2493-UG). 44 For example, Malawi: Secondary Education Project (Cr 3051- MAI). 45 For example, Comoros: Third Education Project (N 031 -COM); Mali: Improving Learning in Primary Schools (Cr 331 8-MLI) 46 For example, Comoros: Third Education Project (N 031 -COM). Ix Lessons Learned number of lessons may be derived from the instrument used by external agencies to support edu- A experience of the projects reviewed. They con- cation in Sub-Saharan Africa. cern time frames, public and private provi- sion, privatization and prices, local stakeholders, lo- The Sectorwide Approach (SWAP) promises sig- cal publishing industries, small states, and govern- nificant benefits for textbook provision. ment capacity. Public and Private Provision Time Frames State-dominated textbook provision has generally The development of a new or revised textbook typi- proved inefficient for structural reasons. Private sec- cally takes three years. A realistic schedule allows tor provision has been found cost-effective only when one year for identification of authors, planning, and the textbook market is large enough to support com- writing; one year for editing, pretesting, revision, of- petition. Elsewhere-and this may be in a majority ficial evaluation, additional revision, and final ap- of Sub-Saharan African countries-both public and proval; and one year for manufacture, shipping, and private sectors will have to play a role in textbook delivery. The first stage often takes longer, and so may provision. the second, yet many textbook components have been The state's minimal responsibilities in textbook tied to a time-consuming initial process of curricu- provision are defined in chapter 2. Some states also lum revision in a project that lasts only four or five wish to retain responsibility for preparing the draft years. As a result, textbook provision is sometimes manuscript of textbooks that meet their curriculum still under way when the credit is closed. and reflect the local experience and needs of their The development of sustainable textbook provi- people. This creative act is the crucial role in textbook sion takes longer than three years. If domestic pub- development. Thereafter, the state may procure any lishing industries are to be involved, time may be or all of the expert services of publishing from the needed to build local publishing capacity. private sector, either locally or internationally, The traditional project period is inappropriate through competitive bidding. for textbook provision.' Successful institutional de- Governments are increasingly using competitive velopment has required sustained assistance over procurement for services ranging from editing to de- several projects. livery of finished books.3 So long as they retain con- In the last two years, the Bank has incorporated trol of content by selecting the authors and by strict textbook provision in long-term sectoral investment evaluation, they can ensure that their textbooks meet programs, typically with ten-year horizons and close the local curriculum and local needs and reflect the multidonor cooperation. This sector-wide approach experiences and culture of their students. (SWAP)2 is expected to become the most important 74 AFRICA REGION HUMAN DEVELOPMENT WORKING PAPER SERIES The public-private interrelationship secures the ally prepare for substantially higher direct costs, efficiency of competitive private sector provision, either to themselves or to students' families. while ensuring ultimate public control. It engages the private sector in even the smallest market by remov- Local Stakeholders ing the element of entrepreneurial risk. It is not as The involvement of local stakeholders in the design ideal as full competition, but it promises to be the of projects helps build consensus and ownership. If most practical when countries are small and when the MOE staff members who will be directly respon- large countries fragment the textbook market by in- sible for implementing projects at each level are rep- troducing mother tongue instruction or administra- resented in planning them, it is more likely that poli- tive decentralization. cies and activities will be practicable within the ex- isting organization and proposed schedule. In some The roles of the private and public sectors in text- countries, local publishers, printers, and distribu- book provision should reflect the conditions and tors have been involved. capacities of ;he country concerned. No single In implementation, the devolution of responsi- model is practical or desirable. bilities encourages innovation and participation. It facilitates consideration of the needs of minority and Through competitive procurement of publishing disadvantaged groups. It may also increase the cost- services, many governments are reducing over- effectiveness of any intervention. head costs, while retaining the responsibility for The involvement of community organizations, writing textbooks that meet the special needs of parents, and teachers inculcates a sense of local own- their schools. ership and commitment. Parent-teacher associations and school management committees have success- Privatization and Prices fully been given responsibility for managing and re- Textbooks published commercially usually appear plenishing textbook stocks and in some cases for ad- more expensive than those produced by the state. ministering a textbook rental scheme.5 Community Commercial publishers must recover all costs, includ- involvement is effective, however, only if it is mean- ing overhead, from sales. Governments, in contrast, ingful and is seen as such by the community. often allocate to textbooks only the direct cost of Parent associations and other community orga- manufacturing and bury other costs in departmen- nizations act as watchdogs to ensure that money al- tal budgets. located to schools is spent appropriately and in re- As a result, the change from public to private sponse to the community's needs. They and other civil provision of textbooks can be a financial shock. The organizations are well suited to monitor, detect, and direct cost of the same number of textbooks procured reverse poor management or undesirable activities, from the private sector may be 50 percent or more because they are close to and familiar with local is- what had been budgeted under public provision.4 The sues. A former senior adviser to the ministry of pub- budget for textbooks may thus become vulnerable to lic works in Uganda argues that where genuine anti- fiscal paring, reducing target textbook-to-pupil ra- corruption attempts have failed, one ingredient has tios. invariably been missing: the involvement of civil so- Any savings from the transition will occur only ciety (Kisubi 1999: 117-19). if overhead and other costs previously incurred in public textbook provision are excised. This usually The involvement of local stakeholders increases means reducing the establishment of the MOE or re- community commitment and promotes good man- lated agency, which is never easy. agement. If commercially produced textbooks are sold to parents, the higher price exacerbates problems that Local Publishing Industries may already exist in equity and affordability. Chapter 2 described the long-term influence of a do- mestic publishing industry on continuing literacy Governments that are considering a transition from and national identity. Bank-financed support for text- public to private provision of textbooks must usu- WORLD BANK SUPPORT FOR PROVISION OF TEXTBOOKS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 1985-2000 75 books has infused cash into local publishing in Ghana, lies to pay for them will be no greater than in Nigeria, and Uganda. Bank support for liberalization larger countries. and/or multiple choice will encourage the develop- * Special care must be taken in project design not ment of publishing industries in other countries, such to overload the borrower's managerial capacity. as Ethiopia, Mali, Senegal, and Zambia. The spread of mother tongue instruction and decentralization will Small states are a special case in which sustain- make some markets less available or less attractive able provision of textbooks is unlikely, public to transnational publishers and open significant agencies will play a continuing prominent role, niches for local publishers. The market for locally and reform must be carefully paced to the limited produced supplementary reading materials will be institutional capacity. supported by IDA-financed provision of coins du livre or book nooks in schools and literacy programs at Government Capacity home. In one project completion report after another, two lessons in project design recur. The first is that projects Current policies of liberalization, mother tongue should not be overly complex. The second is that they instruction, and decentralization provide new mar- must be matched to the borrowing government's fi- kets for local private-sector publishing of textbooks. nancial and managerial capacity to implement them. The Bank's mandate to encourage domestic in- These lessons apply to textbooks as well as to other dustry will, therefore, become increasingly signifi- components of education credits. cant. Small States Systems of textbook provision should be simple, focused, and compatible with the financial and Nine of the forty countries in this review have popu- managerial capacity of the borrower. lations of fewer than 1,500,000 people, and five have fewer than half that many. These small states- Government Commitment smaller in population than many African cities-have A recent Bank study, Aid and Reforn in Africa: Lessons the same goals of access and quality as larger states, from Ten Case Studies (Devarajan and others 2001) dem- but lack an equivalent pool of human and financial onstrates that political leaders and civil servants in resources. As a result, any large-scale education- many countries are committed to and do effect change, project is likely to assume a disproportionate share but that reform cannot be enforced through condi- of total departmental activity, and senior people in- tions imposed by projects. volved will have to juggle several concurrent respon- sibilities Ultimately, the adequate provision and use of text- Nevertheless, small nations are as anxious as books comes down to the capacity and willing- large ones that instruction in their schools reflects ness of the borrower. their own history, society, culture, and geography. Of the nine smallest African states in the review, only three buy textbooks off the shelf. In Niger, it took five years to produce the first textbook under The characteristics of small states have three con- 2 a project, because staff had to be trained. See chapter 3, page 27. sequences;for textbook provision: In Burkina Faso, writing time was significantly reduced by using private authors (see chapter 4, p. 31). Chapter 5 discusscs * Market size discourages the activities of procurement of publishing services on pp.37-39. I Chapter 2 sets out the additional costs of private provision on transnational and even local commercial pub- p. 18. lishers. Textbooks will almost inevitably be pro- Chapter 8 provides examples on pp. 68-69. vided by the state. * Textbooks unique to small states will always be relatively expensive, although the ability of fami- x Recommendations Improving the Quality of Textbooks port them with adequate training in print commu- nications, and reward them appropriately. Authorship Private sector publishers of learning materials have Evaluation long recognized that good teachers make the best During the review period, the Bank paid growing at- authors. Public agencies in Africa have increasingly tention to the content of textbooks when editorial and commissioned private sector authors, frequently re- design services were being procured competitively tired teachers or active teachers working during va- from the private sector. The first test in every such cation periods. Using commissioned private authors, bid now is of the textbook's content, and submissions instead of civil servants with other responsibilities, that do not exceed the threshold for quality are not generally results in an improved textbook, reducing considered further. Once that threshold is passed, writing time by as much as 50 percent. slightly greater weight is given to the lowest cost Committed authors may be identified most suc- than to the highest quality of content. The difference cessfully through advertisements inviting submis- in weighting (typically 60:40 in recent African sions of sample material. The samples may then be projects) does not appear to be significant in most evaluated using a procedure equivalent to that used bids.' in bid evaluation (see chapter 4). No equivalent procedure exists for the evalua- Once identified, authors commonly require train- tion of content of textbooks prepared and published ing in the skills of written communication, insofar as by state monopolies without external editorial en- they are different from the oral and personal skills of hancement. classroom' teaching. Adequate provision should be In general, there is little apparent monitoring of made for rewarding authors-most easily with a one- the success in the classroom of textbooks procured time fee, rather than an administratively cumber- with IDA support. If curriculum revision is required, some alternative such as royalties. the textbooks are not always available in the class- room by the time a five-year project is complete or In Bank sector work, dialogue with clients, and are not there long enough to be properly evaluated in financing', focus on the recruitment and training use. But such delays are not always the case, espe- of authors in the private sector. cially when all that is needed is reprinting. Yet, con- tent is rarely mentioned in project completion reports State agencies that are responsible for develop- or supervision reports and, when it is, only in the ing textbooks should be encouraged to use au- most general of terms. thors carefully chosen from the private sector, sup- 78 AFRICA REGION HUMAN DEVELOPMENT WORKING PAPER SERIES No assessment of actual textbooks has been un- evaluation with the understanding that they could dertaken in the course of this review. Task man- be adapted to meet special conditions or requirements agers, however, have spoken during interviews of the borrower. about inappropriate content and questioned the The African region has considerable experience quality of books in use. The Bank should monitor in developing these instruments, but, in preparing a the quality of textbooks provided with IDA fund- standard set of criteria, might look to other regions ing more closely than in the past. Before contracts as well. for printing of new books are signed, it could use- One useful approach was developed in consulta- fully conduct spot audits of textbooks selected in tion with the Government of the Philippines during the course of bid evaluation. Before textbooks are a current project supporting primary education. Five reprinted, it could commission field studies of the major criteria were used: (a) coverage of the required appropriateness of academic and social content, learning competencies, (b) appropriateness of mate- language, and length. rial, including gender and social content, (c) presen- tation and organization of material, (d) completeness Given its importance, the quality of content should and presentation of the teacher's guide, and (e) accu- never be allotted less than 40 percent of the racy and timeliness of the information. Under each weighting in any bid evaluation in which it is a criterion, evaluation teams were asked to assess the component. manuscript under a number of headings. Textbooks were required to cover all major concepts and skills Supplementary reading materials and 90 percent of learning competencies overall; A few projects in the past have incorporated supple- achieve at least 75 percent in qualitative ratings of mentary reading books.2 Major current projects in appropriateness, presentation, and the teacher's Senegal and Mali are supporting coins du livre ("book guide; and contain no more than ten major or twenty- nooks") in the school to encourage reading both there five minor errors of concept, fact, grammar, or com- and at home.3 Little has been said in this review about putation. A book that failed in any one of the criteria this class of schoolbook, but only because there was would not be recommended. Books either passed or little in the documents studied. failed. In this instance, no ranking was done by qual- Supplementary materials are an important ad- ity. junct to the textbook. They encourage reading, rein- force lessons in literacy, and foster independent study One or more standard sets of criteria for evaluat- in other school subjects. The projects in Sen6gal and ing textbooks should be prepared incorporating Mali should be followed closely, and their experience best practices from all regions. These basic docu- with coins du livre incorporated in other projects. ments could be adapted with the Bank's agree- ment to meet the borrower's conditions and re- The Bank should expand its support for supple- quirements. mentary reading materials as an adjunct to text- books. Improving Equity of Access to Textbooks Evaluation instruments The Bank has well-established standards for physi- Free loans of textbooks at the primary level cal production to ensure durability, but no compa- Attempts to recover the cost of textbooks from their rable Bank-wide standard for evaluating pedagogi- users have failed in virtually all the projects reviewed. cal effectiveness. No single document incorporates Cost recovery pursues the goal of sustainability, but best practices in this area. crashes against a wall of poverty. The cost of renting Extracts from an evaluation instrument used in textbooks, much less buying them, has proved be- Nigeria were given in chapter 4. Time could be saved yond the ability of large numbers of parents who in project design and quality could be improved by would be willing to pay. Chapter 7 describes some of developing one or more standard instruments for the failures. WORLD BANK SUPPORT FOR PROVISION OF TEXTBOOKS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 1985-2000 79 Many countries that experimented with cost re- help is given to those who cannot. Guinea, for ex- covery have eventually opted for free loans of text- ample, has waived rental fees for the neediest stu- books at the primary level. Major new IDA-supported dents, who are identified by the local school commu- programs also incorporate free provision at the pri- nity. Civil society organizations may be enlisted to mary level. This should become a general policy for support government efforts, as in Cape Verde.' IDA credits. Any of these mechanisms will require an annual Books that are damaged or lost while in a allocation in the education budget sufficient to main- student's care would have to be replaced. Parents tain equitable access to secondary school textbooks would, therefore, have some accountability. To make at a level determined by government policy. Such this responsibility more acceptable, schools may have assistance should be incorporated in the design of to educate parents in the value and care of books. projects, and a commitment included in the agree- ment for a credit. To achieve access for all to primary education, the Bank should ensurethat adequate numbers of Project designs should include a mechanism to textbooks are provided without charge at the pri- provide equity of access to textbooks at the sec- mary level. ondary level. Selective assistance should be fa- vored over subsidized rental fees or sale prices. Equity of access at the secondary level Commitments to maintain equity of access should Many governments currently collect rental fees from be incorporated in credit agreements and the secondary school students in order to recover at least borrower's performance monitored regularly. part of the cost of textbooks. In other countries, sec- ondary-level textbooks are sold. Free loans of secondary-level textbooks should Ensuring Better Use of Textbooks be a long-term goal. To achieve equity of access in the meantime, some mechanism must be set in place to Teacher training assist academically qualified students who cannot Ample evidence exists that books that reach the class- afford to pay their full or any share of costs. room are often not used. The possible reasons are Subsidizing the price of textbooks does not make many: the teachers themselves were taught without them affordable to the poorest of the population. Nor textbooks or are untrained in the use of textbooks or are subsidies cost-effective if they reduce the cost of are threatened by the knowledge in textbooks, or fear textbooks for those who can afford to pay their full the books, if used, might be damaged. Whatever the share. A blanket subsidy reinforces the existing edu- reason, the investment in time and money up to that cational and economic elites. point is lost. Geographically targeted assistance, aimed at the Projects that provide textbooks normally include most disadvantaged regions of a country, has been training in their use. Implementation is the responsi- applied in some Bank-funded projects. This approach bility of the borrower and has appeared to be beyond is effective, but ignores the poor elsewhere. Because the capacity or concern of many ministries.6 most geographically targeted assistance is directed to rural areas, the urban poor are singularly ignored. Project design should give the highest possible Other targeted assistance has been designed to priority to teacher training in the use of textbooks. encourage more efficient use of educational facilities The borrower's performance in this respect should and the attendance of girls. Demand-side financing be audited annually. has been used relatively little in Sub-Saharan Africa, but could be effective in providing stipends at the The introduction of multiple choice in textbooks secondary level.4 requires additional training-not just in the use of A nationwide form of assistance based on need textbooks, but in their selection. It is critical that de- has been employed in several countries. Under such cisionmakers-whether district officers, head teach- schemes, parents who can afford to pay do so and ers, or individual teachers-have this training be- 80 AFRICA REGION HUMAN DEVELOPM4ENT WORKING PAPER SERIES fore they are asked to make choices that may lock Documents written for these purposes would their schools into a particular set of learning materi- have to be clear, easy to read, and comprehensive. A als for years to come. delicate balance must be maintained. As one Bank In countries with multiple choice, the MOE nor- team remarked, overemphasis on conservation of mally publishes a list of learning materials autho- books and supplies can lead to nonuse. rized for use in the schools. Teachers who do not have Governments would not be required to use such the opportunity to inspect the books for themselves documents and could adapt and translate them as would find annotated lists useful. Notes, based on required by local conditions, but the availability of the evaluators' reports, could in particular indicate the documents would save time and often improve the qualities that would best suit the needs of stu- quality. It would also increase the likelihood that dents in a specific district or circumstance. training-at least to the extent of distributing the guidelines-would occur. Special training in selection must be offered be- fore multiple choice in textbooks is introduced. Published guidelines would facilitate training of MOE and private sector staff in textbook provision. Annotated lists of authorized learning materials The guidelines would be available to borrowers would be of particular help to decisionmakers who to translate and adapt to local conditions. Sub- cannot inspect the books themselves. jects could include the development, selection, storage, and care of textbooks. Training documents The Bank has a number of concerns related to text- Distribution books and learning materials on which it advises Private transporters can readily deliver to second- borrowing governments. It provides technical sup- ary schools and many primary schools. For books to port during supervision missions and by e-mail, tele- reach widely scattered, small primary schools often conferences, and videoconferences. Implementation, requires personal efforts by teachers, parents, or com- however, remains the borrower's responsibility. munity organizations. Both efficiency and quality could be improved if Where textbooks are sold, dependence on private the Bank were to draw on best practices in various sector booksellers is practical only in urban areas.7 areas and synthesize them in sets of standard docu- Burkina Faso has successfully used booksellers where ments. Borrowing governments could then adapt practical and a parastatal distributor elsewhere. these documents for training MOE employees and Church organizations and CSOs have also proved private suppliers of services. They should include: valuable channels for distribution, especially in ar- eas of conflict. * Guidelines for authors, illustrators, and design- ers of textbooks for Sub-Saharan African schools, Adequate provision should be made for delivery with special emphasis on primary grades by public means to remote schools that the pri- * Guidelines for choosing the best textbook for a vate sector cannot reach economically. particular school or class to help head teachers and teachers in countries where multiple choice When textbooks are sold through commercial exists at the local level channels, provision should be made to serve ru- * Guidelines and procedures for the secure trans- ral areas where no bookshops exist. port and storage of books and the management of book stocks (for distributors and for stock keep- Stock management ers at central, regional, and district levels) Adequate book storage, secure from water, fire, in- . Guidelines for the management of book stocks in sects, animals, mold, and theft, is essential at all dis- the schools (for head teachers and teachers) tribution points, from the MOE's central warehouse * Guidelines and procedures for teachers on the (if one is used) to the local school. Warehouses should care and repair of textbooks. WORLD BANK( SUPPORT FOR PROVISION OF TEXTBOOKS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 1985-2000 81 be equipped with shelves, which may be simply Computerized stock control and training in its use bricks and boards at the local level. should be incorporated in future projects to Standard plans for Bank-financed, new schools achieve economies in textbook provision. provide for secure storage space, often off the head teacher's office, and for book storage cupboards in The Bank could finance the design or adaptation classrooms. Civil society organizations could be en- of a standard computer program for use in stock couraged to build storage space in existing schools. control and management of textbook provision. Stock keepers need to be trained in the care of books. Teachers and pupils also need to be trained in Improving the Sustainability of Textbook Provision their care, protection, and simple repair. Although such training is often incorporated in project bud- Borrowers' commitment gets, it is not always fully implemented. Failure in The initial purchase of textbooks will normally be this respect can vitiate investments. funded by a credit. Thereafter, borrowers may be ex- The person responsible for books in each school pected to fund all or a substantial portion of the costs and/or individual teachers must be given detailed of textbook replenishment through annual allocations procedures for stamping and registering each copy from the recurrent budget. Only in this way, can they of each textbook lent to a student. escape a cycle of repeated borrowing for textbooks. This approach is envisaged in the current project in The Bank should ensure that adequate storage Senegal, for example. space for textbooks exists at all necessary admin- Given external factors such as global recession istrative levels, down to the school. The improve- and low commodity prices, it may be difficult for ment of existing facilities could be a subject for some borrowers to meet their obligation in this re- cooperation with other donors and CSOs. spect. Textbooks constitute only a small fraction of the total education budget in any country, however, The Bank should ccbntinue its efforts to instill good and should not be allowed to be squeezed out by other practices in book storage and maintenance. Stock recurrent costs. keepers, teachers, and students must be provided with detailed instructions and trained in the care Credits should include the borrower's commitment and management of books to preserve stock and to fund the replenishment of textbooks, normally ensure its efficient use. under a dedicated budget line. Performance should be audited annually, with satisfactory per- Management information systems formance a condition for any future education cred- Information technology can increase the efficiency of its. textbook provision and distribution by reducing over- or under-ordering and inappropriate alloca- The book chain tions to schools. The Bank has financed computer- The provision of textbooks is more complex than the ized stock management systems under'some projects provision of most commodities. It may involve: and should do so more frequently.8 In addition to hardware, staff must be trained and communication * Interrelationships among the public and private systems from the school to the center improved. sectors, bilateral donor agencies, civil society or- The Bank could assist the implementation of na- ganizations, and the Bank. tional management information systems by financ- * Interrelationships among ministries that may ing the development of a computer program specifi- have conflicting policies cally designed to facilitate textbook provision. The * Functional relationships among curriculum de- general requirements of such a system are common, velopers, authors and illustrators, publishing but the program should allow simple adaptations to professionals, manufacturers, transporters, stock meet special national requirements. The program keepers, teachers, and pupils could be offered to borrowers at no or little cost. 82 AFRICA REGION HUMAN DEVELOPMENT WORKING PAPER SERIES * Procedures for evaluation of quality, cost-benefit preserve any they own. Public retention of copy- analysis, and monitoring right in any textbooks developed by public agen- * Protection of both intellectual and physical prop- cies with IDA financing should be made an ex- erty rights plicit condition in credit agreements. * Training in management and use. Subregional textbook development The Bank has paid increasing attention to the National governments can share expertise and re- multifaceted characteristic of textbooks. Textbook duce the costs of textbook development and produc- provision nevertheless has faltered or foundered from tion by preparing textbooks cooperatively in sub- failures associated with virtually every one of the jects that are relatively culturally neutral, such as areas listed. mathematics and science. CONFEMEN (Conference des Ministres de l'Edu- In the design of textbook components, the Bank cation Nationale des pays ayant en commun l'usage should agree with the borrower as to the roles, du francais) developed a unified mathematics pro- responsibilities, and concerns of all players in the gram for francophone countries in the mid-1990s, but book chain that stretches from the central minis- few countries decided to adopt it. Efforts were made try to the individual student. The capacity and ca- to establish a cooperative system of textbook devel- pability of every link should be evaluated. Ad- opment, production, and distribution in Benin, Niger, equate provision should be made at every stage and Togo, using national expertise and strengths. In for monitoring and response. Ethiopia, regional authorities are studying coopera- tion in development of textbooks in common mother Intellectual property rights tongues. In most jurisdictions of the world, and under inter- Such efforts should be encouraged to achieve national agreement, the copyright in a manuscript economies of scale. Additional opportunities for sub- belongs to the author. The principal exception occurs regional private sector cooperation could develop when the author writes the manuscript as part of his within the recently established East African Book or her employment or under a fee-for-service con- Development Association, which is designed to pro- tract. Copyright legislation is national and varies mote a reading culture in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanza- from country to country, but most African states have nia and to encourage cross-border trade in books modelled theirs on those of their former colonizing (Makotsi 2001). power, and the foregoing applies. African countries might look even beyond their As a result, MOEs and other public agencies that region. The small Pacific island state of Vanuatu found use their own employees or commissioned authors that texts used in Mali were well suited for its own to develop textbooks normally own the copyright in purposes and adapted them accordingly. the resulting manuscript. Securing publishing ser- vices for a fee, including editorial improvement, does Borrowers should be encouraged to share exper- not vitiate that right. tise and achieve economies of scale through co- Intellectual property rights have value and operative development and production of text- should be protected. Sharing rights with a commer- books. The Bank should seek ways to support such cial publisher or transferring them outright, as has cooperation. happened occasionally, restricts the government's options for the future. It may preclude any competi- Subregional cooperation in textbook production has tive tendering for further provision of that particu- become much easier and economical as a result of lar textbook and thus bar it effectively from IDA-fi- advances in digital technology. This potential has nanced support. been dramatically exploited in the South Pacific, where small island states-Samoa, Tokelau, Nine, and Governments should be informed of the value in- the Cook Islands-use teaching-learning resources in herent in intellectual property rights and urged to their own languages thathavebeen developedinNew WORLD BANK SUPPORT FOR PROVISION OF TEXTBOOKS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 1985-2000 83 Zealand by the MOE and the parastatal Learning . Pedagogical objectives in textbook design and Media. This is a two-way North-South,partnership, how they may be achieved because about one-third of New Zealand's children . All aspects of publishing and printing, including are Polynesian; to develop materials for them, the the optimum physical qualities and specifications New Zealand ministry has worked with its counter- for paper, printing, and binding parts in half a dozen island states. . Evaluation of the contents and physical qualities Learning Media produces sets of full-color short of learning materials books or readers, a format well suited to multilin- . Intellectual property rights and other aspects of gual publication, in place of formal textbooks. By publishing law printing the same book in several languages, with . The conditions of publishing in countries negoti- only the text plate changed for each edition, print ating for credits. runs can be relatively long and unit costs propor- tionately low. A full-color book in a local language The Africa Region currently has only one text- costs no more than a poorly illustrated book in black book specialist. It has in the past depended heavily and white might cost elsewhere in the region, yet the for advice on external consultants. system is so efficient that, even though only 6,000 Bank staff are not required to seek the advice Tokelauans live in the world, a new full-color book is of the textbook specialist in designing projects that produced in Tokelauan about every eight weeks include his field of expertise, although to an outsider (Montagnes 2000). that may seem a reasonable policy. He might also be expected to review project designs prepared by out- Subregional cooperation should be encouraged side consultants. by workshops on the use of digital technology in Textbooks and learning materials constitute the producing co-editions. second largest component of many education cred- its, exceeded only by civil works; on occasion, they Language of Instruction are the largest. The growing involvement of the pri- The introduction of mother tongue instruction will vate sector and the introduction of local choice are inevitably increase the costs of textbook development increasing the complexity of textbook provision, mak- and the unit cost of production. In Ethiopia, some re- ing expert Bank input all the more essential. Con- gional educational offices are investigating possible tinuing expert advice is also desirable, given the fre- savings that can be achieved by pooling efforts with quency with which task managers and other key Bank neighboring regions with which they have linguistic personnel change during the life of projects. Prudence links. The Bank should encourage such efforts, not suggests that the Africa Region hire at least one more only within countries, but internationally where lo- qualified textbook specialist and possibly more, not cal languages cross national borders. only to meet a desirable increase in requests for ad- vice, but as a backup and succession strategy. In the preparation of local language textbooks, governments should be encouraged to pool efforts The Bank should increase its internal expertise in to achieve economies of scale wheh languages textbook provision and management. cross jurisdictional borders. It should involve a textbook specialist in the de- Bank expertise sign of every education project that includes the The effective and efficient provision of textbooks and provision of printed teaching-learning materials. learning materials requires a broad range of special- a ized knowledge. Detailed expertise is needed in: Improving Contributions to the Development of the Local Private Publishing Sector The Bank's procurement guidelines and proce- dures, with an understanding of the potential for Training flexibility The Bank can draw on a growing pool of African ex- pertise in its support for capacity building in text- 84 AFRICA REGION HUMAN DEVELOPMENT WORKING PAPER SERIES book provision. Training, thus, can be based increas- Access to capital ingly on African experience and designed to meet Af- rican conditions. Foreign consultants bring expertise, Access to capital remains a major problem for Afri- but may be unaware of or insensitive to African needs, can publishers. The industry requires .long-term in- culture, capacity, and expectations. vestment in development and manufacture, but its The Bank can study further cooperation with the inventory has little value as collateral. Any loans that African Publishing Institute, the training wing of the can be secured are likely to be at rates as high as 40 continent-wide, trilingual African Publishers Net- percent per year. The cost of money is further in- work (APNET). It has already worked with these bod- creased by slow payments from government depart- ies in organizing workshops. The institute runs na- ments and private booksellers. tional and regional workshops in English and French The Bank has shown flexibilty in relieving pri- in a variety of subjects, including publishing man- vate sector publishers' lack of capital. The problem is agement, copyright, electronic publishing, editing, design, and marketing. In 2001 it initiated certificate courses in publishing in collaboration with three Af- rican universities (Moi University in Kenya, Kwame * In Mali, the Bank accepted a guaranteed credit Nkrumah University in Ghana, and the University of fromy printereinilaceof the cash performance Buea in Cameroon) that were already running degree ety no required. courses in publishing (APNET 2001). be extended more generally. The Bank could also expand its support for intra- * Contracts for textbook provision generally p ro- African study visits in which representatives of one vide for an advance payment of 30 percent of the country examine successful textbook programs else- bid price rather than the normal 10 percent. At a where. Such visits facilitate the sharing of experience conference on Bank bidding procedures held in and help to accelerate and improve the implementa- Ghana in 1998, West African publishers asked tion of textbook programs. Useful visits might be that the advance payment be increased to as made to: much as 50 percent. The advance should never be greater than the cost of manufacture, lest books * Burkina Faso to study its use of commissioned be printed simply for the profit immediately avail- private authors to write publicly published text- able. Advance payments-with adequate safe- books and its use of private sector transport for guards against abuse of the process-might pru- distribution dently be increased to more than 30 percent of * Madagascar to study its distribution and com- the bid price depending on local conditions and puterized management systems for textbook pro- prices, especially to help finance the substantial vision cost of paper and reduce the cost of money. * Cape Verde to study its success in pairing cost * The Bank could review its guidelines for domes- recovery with free provision of textbooks to needy tic preference in ICB, especially the requirement students though the semiautonomous body that local labor and materials constitute at least ICASE. 30 percent of the bid price. When the global price of paper is particularly high, as happens periodi- All three examples are recognized best practices, cally, this threshold is unattainable for printers which might be further studied and published to make and publishers in Sub-Saharan Africa. For this their strategies more generally available. special case, some flexibility might be introduced. Special concessions might be negotiated with the In its support for capacity building in textbook pro- small loans branch of the International Monetary vision, the Bank should draw increasingly on Afri- Fund to assist African publishers. can expertise and African examples of best prac- * The Bank could explore the establishment of a tice. guaranteed loan fund, similar to one started in Kenya by the Dag Hammarskj0ld Foundation. With support from the Ford Foundation of WORLD BANK SUPPORT FOR PROVISION OF TEXTBOOKS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 1985-2000 85 US$300,000, the foundation arranged with local Publishers have complained about the complex- banks to guarantee credit extended to local pub- ity and length of current bidding documents, the cost lishers in a normal way. Eleven applications for of obtaining them, and the cost in time of completing loans were accepted under the scheme. Only three them. Bidding documents are legally binding and publishers failed to repay their loans and had to must be complete. The Bank should recognize, how- be rescued by the guarantor. The scheme was sig- ever, that complex and expensive documents favor nificant in assisting the indigenization of Heine- large transnational publishers who are experienced mann Kenya, which became, as East African Ed- in Bank procedures over smaller local publishers who ucational Publishers Limited, one of the stron- may only now be entering the procurement process. gest publishing houses on the continent. The project showed that small publishers who are Bidding documents for the procurement of text- able to gain access to commercial credit and who books should be as short, simple, and inexpen- manage their finances carefully can succeed, even sive as possible. with interest rates as high as 30 to 40 percent (Priestley 1993: 216; Davies 1997: 86-89). A simi- The Bank should support training in international lar, provincially funded scheme initiated in On- procurement. tario in the 1970s was fundamental to the future success of the Canadian book publishing indus- Before implementation, standard bidding docu- try. ments should be tested for effectiveness and effi- ciency in consultation with a representative The Bank should implement its mandate to en- sample of local and transnational publishers and courage domestic industry by improving African printers. publishers' access to capital. Possible strategies include modified guidelines for domestic prefer- ence, concessionary loans, and a guaranteed loan Chapter 4, p. 32. scheme. 2 For example, Third Education Projects in Uganda (Cr 1329) and Sierra Leone (Cr 1353). Bidding documents Quality Education for All (Cr 3333) and Education Sector Textbooks do not fit easily into the Bank's normal bid- Expenditure Program (Cr 3449). ding procedures, because of the qualitative judgments 4 Examples are provided in chapter 7, pp. 60-61. that must be made and intellectual property rights Chapter 7 describes Cape Verde's innovative approach, pp. that must be assured. A trial set of standard bidding 57. documents especially for textbook procurement was 6 See chapter 6, pp. 52. issued in 1994, but proved unsatisfactory. Bidding 7 Chapter 6, p. 50. documents have since then been prepared for indi- For example, Madagascar: Education Sector Development vidual projects. A new set of procedures and bidding Project (Cr 3046-MAG). documents was being drafted as this was written. Xi Conclusion uring the past 16 years of the twentieth cen- * Introduction of choice in textbooks at the local level. A I tury, the Bank refined its procedures for the single national textbook will be replaced by com- provision of textbooks in Sub-Saharan Af- petition, and schools will be able to choose the rica. The mechanisms of provision moved from the learning materials best suited to their needs. public to the private sector. State monopolies in text- book production gave way to competitive procure- These three goals are not without their challenges. ment of publishing services, bringing to the educa- To maintain free loans, governments will be expected tional enterprise expertise and economies honed in to replenish supplies through recurrent budgets. This commercial practice. may prove difficult in times of fiscal austerity and In the closing years of the century, innovative low commodity prices. The use of national languages programs moved beyond physical provision to three for instruction will complicate the provision of text- broader goals: books in countries with many language groups and, by fragmenting the market, it will increase costs. * Equity of access to textbooks. Attempts during the Multiple choice will require objective and transpar- 1990s to recover the costs of textbooks from us- ent procedures for selection and, equally important, ers failed, because any charge, no matter how informed and trained local decisionmakers. subsidized or amortized, proved to be beyond Two larger challenges remain, one at either end the ability or willingness of so many families to of the textbook chain that stretches from the author pay. New programs incorporate free loans of to the classroom. books at the primary level. In secondary schools, The first is continued improvement in the con- rental fees will still be charged and some form of tent of textbooks provided with IDA credits. This will assistance will be needed for disadvantaged stu- require increased attention to quality throughout the dents. life of a project. It may involve additional training of * Encouragement of literacy, at home as well as in the class- authors, editors, illustrators, and designers. It should room, using communityfirst languages. This initiative involve field studies of the effectiveness of textbooks follows widespread introduction of national lan- in the schools. Attention to quality, in short, should guages for early primary instruction. The in- be a continuous process that not only monitors, but creased attention to reading materials and lan- also effects change. This will be much more possible guage should provide opportunities for local pub- as project horizons are extended to encompass ten- lishing industries, thus, fulfilling one of the Bank's year programs. underlying mandates. 88 AFRICA REGION HUMAN DEVELOPMENT WORKING PAPER SERIES The final remaining challenge is to promote the taught how to use it effectively. Teacher training in greater use of textbooks in the classroom. Thousands, the use of textbooks has been included in many perhaps hundreds of thousands, of African teachers projects, but implementation has been limited or in- were taught without textbooks and have been teach- effective. To reach every teacher receiving textbooks ing without them. Considerable evidence exists that is an enormous task. Even to reach every head teacher, many are not using the books that have been given the key to good practice in any individual school, will them. They must be persuaded that the textbook is a be daunting. 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"Operational Policy on Textbooks and Reading Psacharopoulos, George and Maureen Woodhall. Materials." November 14, 2001. 1985. Educationfor Development: an Analysis of "Procurement Technical Note No. 4.4.1." 1994. Investment Choices. Oxford: Oxford University "Standard Bidding Documents for the Procurement Press for the World Bank. of Textbooks.' 1994. Rathgeber, Eva M. 1992. "African Book Publishing: "Synopsis of the Lea9ing and Innovation Loan." Lessons from the 1980s." In Philip G. Altbach, ed., 1997. Publishing and Development in the Third World. "Technical Note on Procurement of Textbooks and London: Hans Zell Publishers. Reading Materials." Internal draft. May 2001. Salahi, Katherine. 1998. "Talking Books: James Diop, Sakhevar. "Manuels scolaires du projet post- Tumusiime in Conversation with Katherine Salahi." Bellagio Publishing Network Newsletter 24. primaire et du projet de developpement de l'enseignement de base [du Burkino Faso]," May 25, 1998. WORLD BANK SUPPORT FOR PROVISION OF TEXTBOOKS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 1985-2000 91 KUAWAB Business Consultants. 1996. "Cost and The Gambia. Department of State for Education. n.d. Financing of Education in Ethiopia." For the "Textbook Management Handbook: Guidelines for Policy and Human Resources Development the Management of Textbooks at the School Level Project Office. World Bank. Washington, D.C. (Grades 1-6)." Other Unpublished Documents Toe, Noel (textbook manager of Burkina Faso). 1996. ADEA (Association for the Development of Educa- "Rapport de mission au Lesotho, September tion in Africa)/UNESCO. 1999. "Results of a Survey by the Working Group on Books and World Bank Project Reports Learning Materials of the Association for the Angola. First Education Project (Cr 2375-ANG). Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) and Implementation Completion Report, March 16, the UNESCO/DANIDA Initiative in Basic Learning 2000. Materials." London. Benin. Second Education Credit (Cr 1246-BEN). AED (Academy for Educational Development). 1998. Project Completion Report, March 28, 1991. "Analyse de la distribution et de la gestion des _. Education Development Project (Third manuels scolaires en R6publique de Guin6e." Education Project) (Cr 2613-BEN). Staff Appraisal Washington, D.C. Report, June 29, 1996; Aide-Memoire of the Mid- Canadian International Development Agency. 2001. Term Review Mission, June 1998. "Draft Action Plan on Basic Education." Ottawa, January.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Botswana. Fourth Education Project (Loan 2644- January. BT), Project Completion Report, September 18, Harris, Abigail M., Beatrice A. Okyere, Anthony 1991. Mensah, and Harrison G.K. Kugbey. 1997. "What Burkina Faso. Primary Education Development Happens to the Textbooks?" Paper presented at Project (Education IIl) (Cr 1598-BUR). Implemen- the 41st annual meeting of the Comparative and tation Completion Report( May 45 1995m Perfor- International Education Society Mexico City, mance Audit Report, June 28, 2000. March.___ March. . ~~~~~~~~~~~Fourth Education Project (Cr 2244-BUR). Jolly, Richard. 1996. "Concluding Speech to the Mid- Fourth EducationPRet( 2 uR). ' ~~~~~~~~~~~~Implementation Completion Report, June 28, Decade Meeting on Education for All." Paris: 1999; Performance Audit Report, June 28, 2000. UNESCO. Available on the Internet at Burundi First Education Project (Cr 679-BU). . . Third Education Project (Cr 1358-BU), April Republique de Benin: Ministere de l'education 26, 1991. nationale et de la recherche scientifique. "Proces- 2 . Fourth Educatio Project (Cr1881-BU). VerbalProces-verbal d'ouverture de plis relatifs a "Note sur le suivi de la composante manuels la fourniture des manuels scolaires destines au scolaires," March 1993. cour primaire," January 6, 1997. _ . Emergency Assistance Project (Cr 2668-BU). Sehlabi, Charles T. Memo to Sakhevar Diop about Implementation Completion Report, March I1, textbook supply in Lesotho, January 10, 1997. 1997. Sida (Swedish International Development Coopera- Cape Verde. Primary Education Upgrading Project tion Agency). 1996. " Support to Educational (Cr 1853-CV). Staff Appraisal Report, June 29, Materials Programmes: A Review of Experience 1987. Implementation Completion Report, June 4, and Current Strategies." Stockholm. 1996. Sinibagiwe, Stanislas (director of the Academic . Printshop in Rwanda). 1993. "Experience du 2675-CV). Staff Appraisal Report, December 19, Lesotho en matiere de location des manuels 1994; Implementation Completion Report, scolaires et conclusions tirees pour l'organisation December 8, 2000. du systeme de location des livres scolaires au Rwanda: rapport du voyage d'etudes au Lesotho du 06 au 23/07/1993." 92 AFRICA REGION HUMAN DEVELOPMENT WORKING PAPER SERIES Central African Republic. Second Education Project . Tertiary Education Project (Cr 2428-GH). (Cr 1359-CA). Project Completion Report, June 14, Memorandum and Recommendation of the 1991; Performance Audit Report, June 4, 1996. President, September 30, 1992; Implementation . Education Rehabilitation and Development Completion Report, March 17, 1999. Project (Cr 1863-CAR). Implementation Comple- . Basic Education Sector Improvement tion Report, February 24, 1997. Program (Cr 2885-GH). Staff Appraisal Report, Chad. Basic Education Project (Education V) (Cr May 24, 1996. 2501-CD). Staff Appraisal Report, April 16, 1993; . Equity and School Improvement Project (Cr BTO Report by Penelope Bender, August 22, 1996; 2719-GUI). Staff Appraisal Report, April 7, 1995; Mid-Term Review Back to Office Report by Aide memoire of IDA mission of October 9-10, Nicholas Bennet, May 13, 1997. 1999. Comoros. First Education Project (Cr 1195-COM) . Bissau. Basic Education Development and Second Education Credit (Cr 1751-COM). Project (Cr 1914-GUB). Staff Appraisal Report, Performance Audit Report, June 30, 1997; Project May 18, 1988; Implementation Completion Completion Report (First Education Project), Report, December 31, 1996 January 5, 1990. Lesotho. Third Education Project (Cr 1148-LSO). . Third Education Project (N 031-COM). Staff Development Credit Agreement, June 25, 1981; Appraisal Report, June 5, 1997. Project Completion Report, December 27, 1989; Congo (Zaire). Higher Education Rationalization Project Performance Audit Report, June 29, 1990. Project (Cr 1839-ZR). Project Completion Report, . Education Sector Development Project (Cr June 13, 1994. 2287-LSO). Staff Appraisal Report, June 19, 1991; C6te d'Ivoire. Education and Training Support. Implementation Completion Report, January 28, Project. Project Appraisal Document, May 6, 1998. 2000. Ethiopia. Education Sector Development Program . Second Education Sector Development (Cr 3077-ET). Program Appraisal Document, May Project (Cr 3192-LSO). Project Appraisal Docu- 4, 1998; Joint Donor Mission Aide-Memoire, July 1, ment, March 25, 1999. 1997; Second Joint Donor Technical Assistance Madagascar. Education Sector Development Project Mission Aide Memoire, November 17, 1997. (Cr 3046-MAG) (CRESED II). Aide-memoire of the The Gambia. Second Education Sector Project (Cr Mid-Term Review Mission, February 2001; Annex 2142-GM). Staff Appraisal Report, April 30, 1990; 3. Contract with Goree Associates for evaluation of Malawi. Primary Education Project (Cr 2810-MAI). the textbook rental fund, September 8, 1997. Staff Appraisal Report, December 21, 1996; Implementation Completion Report, June 29, Reports from the Supervision Mission, June-July 1999. 1997; Mid-Term Review Mission, February 1998; . Third Education Sector Program (Cr 3128- Education Sector Mission, March-April 2000; and GM). Aide-memoire of preappraisal mission, Sector Dialogue Mission, February 2001. November-December 1997. Project Appraisal . Second Education Sector Credit (Cr 2083- Document, August 7, 1998; Supervision report, MAI). Staff Appraisal Report, November 13, 1989; November 1999 Implementation Completion Report, December Ghana. Health and Education Rehabilitation 29, 1998; and Memorandum from Sakhevar Diop, Project (Cr 1653-GH). Project Completion Report, February 18, 1999. August 31, 1992. Mali. Education Sector Consolidation Project (Cr . Community Secondary Schools Construc- 2054-MLI). Report and Recommendation of the tion Project (Cr 2278-GH). Staff Appraisal Report, President, May 17, 1989, and Implementation May 29, 1991; Implementation Completion Completion Report, June 10, 1996. Report, December 20, 1995. . Improving Learning in Primary Schools (Cr 3318-MLI). Project Appraisal Document, January 21, 2000. WORLD BANK SUPPORT FOR PROVISION OF TEXTBOOKS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 1985-2000 93 Education Sector Expenditure Program in . Quality Education for All Program (Cr 3333- Support of the First Phase of the Ten-Year Educa- SE). Project Appraisal Document, March 20, 2000. tion Program (PRODEC) (Cr 3449-MLI). Project Swaziland. Third Education Project (Loan 1792- Appraisal Document, November 27, 2000. SW). Project Completion Report, December 30, Mauritania. Education Sector Restructuring Project 1988. (Cr 1943-MAU). Implementation Completion Tanzania. Education Planning and Rehabilitation Report, June 4, 1996. Project (Cr 2137-TA). Staff Appraisal Report, . General Education Project (Education V), (Cr April 26, 1990; Implementation Completion 2706-MAU). Staff Appraisal Report, March 10, Report, June 30, 1998. 1995. Togo. Educational Improvement Project (Cr 1568- Mozambique. Second Education Project (Cr 2200- TO). Project Completion Report, October 27, 1994. MOZ). Staff Appraisal Report, November 13, . Education Rehabilitation Project (Cr 2752- 1990. TO). Staff Appraisal Report, June 7, 1995. - . Education Sector Strategic Program (Cr Uganda. Third Education Project (Cr 1329-UG). 3172-MOZ). Project Appraisal Document, January Project Completion Report, June 8, 1989. 22, 1999- Zaire. Education Technical Assistance and Training Niger. Primary Education Development Project (Cr Project (Cr 1519-ZR). Project Completion Report, 1740-NIR). Implementation Completion Report, October 16, 1992. June 14, 1996. Zambia. Education Rehabilitation Project (Cr 2429- Nigeria. Primary Education Project (Cr 2191-UNI). ZA). Implementation Completion Report, Febru- Implementation Completion Report, draft of ary 22, 1999. November 28, 2000; National Primary Education - . Basic Education Subsector Investment Commission Checklist of Criteria for Evaluating Program (Cr. 3190-ZA), Program Appraisal Primary Textbooks. Document March 5, 1999; Memorandum from . Second Primary Education Project (Cr 3346- Bruce N. Jones, December 29,1999; MOE Evalua- UNI). Project Appraisal Document, April 12, 2000. tion Report for Tender No. TB/ORD/002/00: Pre- Rwanda. First Education Sector Project (Cr 2227- Qualification for the Supply and Delivery of RW). Implementation Completion Report, March Primary School Textbooks for Ministry of Educa- 16, 2000. tion, December 2000. . Human Resources Development Project (Cr 3367-RW). Project Appraisal Document, May 8, World Bank Staff Interviewed 2000. Rosemary T. Bellew, Sector Manager Sao Tome e Principe. Multisector I Project (Cr Sakhevar Diop, Senior Education Specialist 2038-STP). Staff Appraisal Report, May 15, 1989; Linda K. English, Senior Operations Officer Implementation Completion Report, May 13, Birgir Fredriksen, Sector Director Human Develop- 1997. ment . Health and Education Project (Cr 2343-STP). Donald B. Hamilton, Senior Education Planner Staff Appraisal Report, February 20, 1992. Bruce N. Jones, Senior Economist Senegal. Second Human Resources Development Young Hoy Kimaro, Senior Economist Project (Education V) (Cr 2473-SE). Staff Ap- Peter N. Ngomba, Country Program Coordinator praisal Report, February 11, 1993; Implementa- Eileen Nkwanga, retired tion Completion Report, March 5, 2001. Robert S. Prouty, Lead Education Specialist Higher Education Project (Cr 2872-SE). Staff Alexandria Valerio, Education Specialist Appraisal Report, May 7, 1996. Daniel Viens, Senior Education Specialist Appendixes Appendix I Projects in Sub-Saharan Africa with Significant Textbook Components No. of books (x OOO)b Value (US$ x OOO)C Appro- Target Total Instructional Country Title No. val Close Levela Planned Actual Credit Materials Angola First Education Credit C2375 1992 1999 P/S 60 1,225 27,100 730 3% Benin Second Education Project C1246 1982 1989 P/LS 470 26 (12,200) (494) 4% Benin Education Development Project C2613 1994 2001 P/LS 750 n/a 18,100 4,040 22% (Third Education Project) Botswana Third Education Project C2057 1981 1987 P. 200 716 20,000 450 2% Botswana Fourth Education Project L2644 1986 1991 P/LS 26,000 (1,100) 4% Burkina Faso Primary Education Development C1598 1985 1994 P 800 1,705 21,600 (1,400) 6% Project (Education 1II) Burkina Faso Fourth Education Project C2244 1991 1998 P/S 1,400 4,560 24,000 (4,900) 20% Burkina Faso Post-Primary Education Project N007 1997 2002 S/T 1,040 n/a 26,000 (7,300) 28% Burundi Third Education Project C1358 1983 1988 P 15,800 (<9,000) <57% Burundi Fourth Education Credit C1881 1988 P/S 2,250 31,500 Burundi Emergency Assistance C2668 1995 1996 P/S 14,600 (3,960) 27% Cameroon Higher Education Technical C3110 1998 2002 T 4,860 <160 3% Training Project 3 Cape Verde Primary Education Upgrading C1853 1988 1995 P 440 730 4,200 (1,039) 25% Cape Verde Basic Education and Training Project C2675 1995 2000 P 378 935 11,500 684 6% Cape Verde Education and Training Consolidation and Modemization Project C3223 1999 2003 P 510 6,000 <390 <7% CAR Second Education Project C1359 1983 1989 P 11,000 <830 <7% CAR Education Rehabilitafion and Development Project C1863 1988 1995 P/T 430 670 18,000 1,300 7% Chad Education Rehabilitation Project C1950 1989 1994 P 600 522 22,000 2,000 4% Chad Basic Education Project: Education V C2501 1993 2001 P 790 n/a 19,300 3,600 19% Comoros First Education Project C1195 1982 1988 P 59 73 6,500 310 5% Comoros Second Education Project C1751 1987 1994 P 60 7,900 Comoros Third Education Project N031 1997 2003 P n/a 7,000 (650) 9% Congo (Zaire) Education & Technical Assistance and Training Project C1519 1985 1991 S 200 189 9,000 483d 5% Congo (Zaire) Higher Education Rationalization C1839 1988 1993 T 50 55 11,000 1,100 10% Project Congo (Zaire) Education Sector Rehabilitation Project C2213 1991 1996 P 1,435 0 21,000 4,700 22% a. P = primary; LS = lower (or junior) secondary; S = secondary; SS = senior secondary; T = tertiary. In all cases, level shown or its equivalent. b. Textbooks, teachers' guides, library and reference book. Quantities rounded to nearest 1,000. c. At credit agreement. Values in parentheses are from appraisal. Where values are shown as less than a stated amount (e.g., <1,200), textbooks have been lumped in with other components such as supplies, equipment, and vehicles; the value shown is the total for that budget line. Values rounded to nearest 1,000. d. Actual. Appendix I Projects In Sub-Saharan Africa with Significant Textbook Components (continued) No. of books (x OOO)b Value (US$ x OOO) Appro- Target Total Instructional Country Title No. val Close Levela Planned Actual Credit Materials Cote divoire Education and Training Support Project C3079 1998 2002 P/LS n/a 53,300 2,300 4% Djiboub Manpower and Education Project C2080 1990 1995 P 15 15 5,800 <590 <10% Equatorial Guinea Primary Education Project C1797 1987 1997 P 470 200 5,100 <760 15% Ethiopia Seventh Education Project C1873 1988 1998 P/SIT 70,000 2,630d 4% Ethiopia Education Sector Development Program C3077 1998 2003 P/S 56,100 n/a 100,000 Gambia Second Education Sector Project C2142 1990 1998 P/S 500 500 14,600 460 3% Gambia Third Education Sector Project C3128 1999 2003 P 1,400 n/a 20,000 600 3% Ghana Health & Education Rehabilitation Project C1653 1986 1991 P/SIT 3,000 6,000 15,000 4,290d 29% Ghana First Education Sector Adjustment Credit C1744 1987 1991 P/LS 34,500 Ghana Second Education Sector Adjustment Credit C2140 1990 1994 LS/SS 50,000 12,000d 24% Ghana Community Secondary Schools Construction Project C2278 1991 1995 SS 140 194 14,700 690 5% Ghana Tertiary Education Project C2428 1993 1998 T 77 77 45,000 2,700 6% Ghana Basic Education Sector Improvement Project C2885 1996 2001 P/JSS n/a 50,000 <5,680 <11% Guinea Second Education Project C1341 1983 1990 P 1,218 450 11,000 <5,300 <48% Guinea Primary Education Project C1797 1990 1994 P Guinea Equity and School Improvement Project C2719 1995 2001 LS 572 n/a 42,500 6,100 14% Guinea-Bisseau Basic-Education Development-Project C1914 1988 1995 P 4,300 <810 <19% Guinea-Bisseau Basic Education Support Project C2960 1997 2002 P n/a 14,300 980 7% Kenya Universities Investment Project C2309 1992 1999 T 55,000 6,300 11% Lesotho Third Education project C1148 1981 1987 P 1,900 2,500 13,100 1,860d 14% Lesotho Education Sector Development Project C2287 1992 1999 P/JS 25,200 <1,050 <4% Madagascar Education Sector Reinforcement Project C2094 1990 1998 P/LS 3,200 39,000 (<16,600) <42% Madagascar Environment Program C2125 1991 1997 P 26,000 (<3,300) 12% Madagascar Education Sector Development Project C3046 1998 2003 P 7,500 n/a 9,800 Malawi Third Education Project C0910 1979 1985 P 2,200 2,700 14,500 (3,370) 23% Malawi Education Sector Credit C1767 1987 1993 P 2,000 0 27,000 Malawi Second Education Sector Credit C2083 1990 1998 P/S 7,400 36,900 5,450 15% Malawi Primary Educabon Project C2810 1996 2000 P 4,000 n/a 22,500 3,300 15% Malawi Secondary Education Project C3051 1998 2003 SS 1,100 n/a 48,200 <10,000 <21% Mali Education Sector Consolidation Project C2054 1989 1995 P 1,100 450 26,000 5,700 4% Mali Improving Leaming in Primary Schools C3318 2000 2003 P 112 n/a 3,800 (<1,030) <27% Mali Education Sector Expenditure Program C3449 2000 2004 P n/a 45,000 Mauritania Education Sector Restructuring Project C1943 1989 1995 P/S 410 350 18,200 (20) >1% Mauritania General Education V Project C2706 1995 2001 P/S 1,240 n/a 35,000 2,500 7% a. P = primary; LS = lower (or junior) secondary; S = secondary; SS = senior secondary; T = tertiary. In all cases, level shown or its equivalent. b. Textbooks, teachers' guides, library and reference book. Quantities rounded to nearest 1,000. c. At credit agreement. Values in parentheses are from appraisal. Where values are shown as less than a stated amount (e.g., <1,200), textbooks have been lumped in with other components such as supplies, equipment, and vehicles; the value shown is the total for that budget line. Values rounded to nearest 1,000. d. Actual. Appendix I Projects in Sub-Saharan Africa with Significant Textbook Components (continued) No. of books (x 0OO)b Value (US$ x OOO)c Appro- Target Total Instructional Country Title No. val Close Levela Planned Actual Credit Materials Mauritius Education Sector Development Project L3578 1993 1998 P/S 71 11 20,000 <900 <5% Mauritius Higher and Technical Education Project L3859 1995 1998 T 12 4 16,000 1,500 9% Mozambique Second Education Project C2200 1991 1998 P 4,300 53,700 <7,700 14% Mozambique Capacity Building: Human Resources Development Project C2436 1993 2001 SS/T n/a 48,600 <1,400 <3% Mozambique Education Sector Strategic Project C3172 1999 2004 P 43,000 n/a 71,000 <9,000 <12% Niger Primary Education Development Project C1740 1987 1995 P 1,000 1,050 18,400 (2,600) 14% Niger Basic Education Sector Project C2618 1994 2001 P 2,830 n/a 41,400 3,400 8% Nigeria Primary Education Project C2191 1991 2000 P 98,000 88,000 120,000 65,100 54% Nigeria Second Primary Education Project C3346 2000 2004 P n/a 55,000 (8,370) 15% Rwanda Third Education Project C1683 1986 1993 P 1,500 1,530 15,600 (800) 5% Rwanda First Education Sector Project C2227 1991 1999 P 450 23,300 (<2,510) <11% Rwanda Human Resources Development C3367 2000 2006 P 1,180 n/a 35,000 (<7,160) <20% Sao Tome e Principe Multisector Project C2038 1989 1996 P/S 200 204 5,000 (780) 16% Sao Tome e Principe Health and Education Project C2343 1992 2001 P/S 400 n/a 9,000 360 4% 1% Swaziland Third Education Project L1792 1980 1985 P 1,180 1,750 10,100 Tanzania Education Planning and Rehabilitation Project C2137 1990 1997 S/T >1,000 38,300 2,720 7% Togo Educational Improvement Project C1568 1985 1992 P 874 12,400 (1,620) 13% Togo Education Rehabilitation Project C2752 1995 2001 P/LS 2,870 n/a 36,600 (10,800) 30% Uganda Third Education Project C1329 1983 1988 P/S 32,000 10,000 31% Uganda Fourth Education Project C1965 1989 1994 P 3,330 3,530 22,000 6,000 27% Uganda Primary Education & Teacher Development Project C2493 1993 2001 P n/a 52,600 1,530 3% Zambia Education Rehabilitation Project C2429 1993 1998 P 2,800 2,320 32,000 6,200 19% Zambia Basic Education Subsector Investment Program Support Project C3190 1999 2002 P 10,000 n/a 40,000 3,500 9% a. P = primary; LS = lower (or junior) secondary; S = secondary; SS = senior secondary; T = tertiary. In all cases, level shown or its equivalent. b. Textbooks, teachers' guides, library and reference book. Quantities rounded to nearest 1,000. c. At credit agreement. Values in parentheses are from appraisal. Where values are shown as less than a stated amount (e.g., <1,200), textbooks have been lumped in with other components such as supplies, equipment, and vehicles; the value shown is the total for that budget line. Values rounded to nearest 1,000. d. Actual. Appendix 2 Characteristics of Textbook Provision Cost recovery/ Developmentbc Authorshipc Production Distribution sharingd Appro- Target Lent Sold Rental/ Country Title No. val levela Public Private Public Private Public Private Public Private Free User Fee Angola First Education Credit C2375 1992 P/S x x x x NGO x x Benin Second Education Project C1246 1982 P/LS x x x x x Benin Education Development Project (Third Education Project) C2613 1994 P/LS x x x x P S Botswana Third Education Project C2057 1981 P x x x x x Botswana Fourth Education Project L2644 1986 P/LS x x x x x Burkina Faso Primary Education Develop- ment Project (Education 1II) C1598 1985 P x x x x (x) x (x) Burkina Faso Fourth Education Project C2244 1991 P/S x x x x x (x) x (x) Burkina Faso Post-Primary Education Project N007 1997 S/T x x x x x Burundi Third Education Project C1358 1983 P x x x x x Burundi Fourth Education Credit C1881 1988 P/S x x x x x Burundi Emergency Assistance C2668 1995 P/S x x x x x Cameroon Higher-Education -Technical Training Project C3110 1998 T x x x x Cape Verde Primary Education Upgrading C1853 1988 P x x x x x Cape Verde Basic Education and Training Project C2675 1995 P xr x x x x x Cape Verde Education and Training Consolidation and Modern- ization Project C3223 1999 P xr x x x x x CAR Second Education Project C1359 1983 P x x (x) x x x x CAR Education Rehabilitation and Development Project C1863 1988 P/T x (x) x x x x Chad Education Rehabilitation Project C1950 1989 P x x x x x Chad Basic Education Project: Education V C2501 1993 P x x x x Comoros First Education Project C1195 1982 P x x x x x a. P = primary; LS = lower (or junior) secondary; S = secondary; SS senior secondary; T = tertiary. In all cases, level shown or its equivalent. b. In many projects, some books were produced in the private sector and others were published commercially. OS = off the shelf; r/p = reprint; Adapt = adaptation. c. Parentheses indicate public-sector use of private authors. d. Under some projects, books may be sold at one level and rented or free at others. Parentheses indicate a pilot project or restricted application. r. Reprint. o. Off the shelf purchase. Appendix 2 Characteristics of Textbook Provision (continued) Cost recovery/ Developmentb.c Authorshipc Production Distribution sharingd Appro- Target Lent Sold Rental/ Country Title No. val levela Public Private Public Private Public Private Public Private Free User Fee Comoros Second Education Project C1751 1987 P x° x x x x Comoros Third Education Project N031 1997 P x° x x x x Congo (Zaire) Education & Technical Assis- tance and Training Project C1519 1985 S ? ? ? x ? Congo (Zaire) Higher Education Rational- ization Project C1839 1988 T x x x x x Congo (Zaire) Education Sector Rehabili- tation Project (suspended) C2213 1991 P Cote d'lvoire Education and Training Support Project C3079 1998 P/LS x° x x x x (x) Djibouti Manpower and Education Project C2080 1990 P xO x x x x Equatorial Guinea Primary Education Project C1797 1987 P x x x x x Ethiopia Seventh Education Project C1873 1988 P/SIT x x x (x) x x x (x) x > Ethiopia Education Sector Development Program C3077 1998 P/S x x (x) x x ? ? Gambia Second Education Sector Project C2142 1990 P/S x x x x x Gambia Third Education Sector Project C3128 1999 P xr x x P LS Ghana Health & Education Rehabili- tation Project C1653 1986 P/SIT x x x x x x x Ghana First Education Sector Adjustment Credit C1744 1987 P/LS x x Ghana Second Education Sector Adjustment Credit C2140 1990 LS/SS x x x x x Ghana Community Secondary Schools Construction Project C2278 1991 SS x° x x x x Ghana Tertiary Education Project C2428 1993 T x° x x x x a. P = primary; LS = lower (or junior) secondary; S = secondary; SS = senior secondary; T = tertiary. In all cases, level shown or its equivalent. b. In many projects, some books were produced in the private sector and others were published commercially. OS = off the shelf; r/p = reprint; Adapt = adaptation. c. Parentheses indicate public-sector use of private authors. d. Under some projects, books may be sold at one level and rented or free at others. Parentheses indicate a pilot project or restricted application. r. Reprint. o. Off the shelf purchase. Appendix 2 Characteristics of Textbook Provision (continued) Cost recovery/ Developmentb. c Authorshipc Production Distribution sharin_d Appro- Target Lent Sold Rental/ Country Title No. val levela Public Private Public Private Public Private Public Private Free User Fee Ghana Basic Education Sector Improvement Program C2885 1996 P/JSS x x x x P LS Guinea Second Education Project C1341 1983 P x x x x x x x Guinea Primary Education Project C1797 1990 P x x x x x Guinea Equity and School Improvement Project C2719 1995 LS x x x x x Guinea Bissau Basic Education Development Project C1914 1988 P x x x x x Guinea Bissau Basic Education Support -Project C2960 1997 P x x x x x Kenya Universities Investment Project C2309 1992 T x° x x x x Lesotho Third Education project C1148 1981 P x x x x x Lesotho Education Sector Develop- ment Project C2287 1992 P/JS x x x x x Madagascar Education Sector-Reinforce- _ _ C) ment Project C2094 1990 P/LS x x x x x Madagascar Environment Program (not implemented) C2125 1991 P Madagascar Education Sector Develop- ment Project C3046 1998 P x x x x x Malawi Third Education Oroject C0910 1979 P x x x x x Malawi Education Sector Credit C1767 1987 P x x x x x Malawi Second Education Sector Credit C2083 1990 P/S x x x x x Malawi Primary Education Project C2810 1996 P x x x Malawi Secondary Education Project C3051 1998 SS x° x x x x Mali Education Sector Consoli- dation Project C2054 1989 P x x x x x Mali Improving Leaming in Pri- mary Schools C3318 2000 P x x x x x a. P = primary; LS = lower (or junior) secondary; S = secondary; SS = senior secondary; T = tertiary. In all cases, level shown or its equivalent. b. In many projects, some books were produced in the private sector and others were published commercially. OS = off the shelf; r/p = reprint; Adapt = adaptation. c. Parentheses indicate public-sector use of private authors. d. Under some projects, books may be sold at one level and rented or free at others. Parentheses indicate a pilot project or restricted application. r. Reprint. o. Off the shelf purchase. Appendix 2 Characteristics of Textbook Provision (continued) Cost recovery/ Developmentb C Authorshipc Production Distribution sharinqd Appro- Target Lent Sold Rental/ Country Title No. val levela Public Private Public Private Public Private Public Private Free User Fee Mali Education Sector Expendi- ture Program C3449 2000 P x x x x P S Mauritania Education Sector Restruc- turing Project C1943 1989 P/S x x x x x Mauritania General Education V Project C2706 1995 P/S x x x x (x) x Mauritius Education Sector Develop- ment Project L3578 1993 P/S x x x x x Mauritius Higher and Technical Education Project L3859 1995 T x° x x x x Mozambique Second Education Project C2200 1991 P x x x x x (x) Mozambique Capacity Building: Human Resources Development Project C2436 1993 SS/T (x) x x x x x Mozambique Education Sector Strategic 0 Project C3172 1999 P x x x x x Niger Primary Education Development Project C1740 1987 P x x x x x Niger Basic Education Sector Project C2618 1994 P x (x) x x x Nigeria Primary Education Project C2191 1991 P x0 x x x x x Nigeria Second Primary Education Project C3346 2000 P x0 x x x x Rwanda Third Education Project C1683 1986 P x x x x x Rwanda First Education Sector Project C2227 1991 P x x x x x Rwanda Human Resources Development C3367 2000 P x (x) x x x Sao Tome & Principe Multisector Project C2038 1989 P/S x x x x x Sao Tome Health and Education & Principe Project C2343 1992 P/S xr x x x a. P = primary; LS = lower (or junior) secondary; S = secondary; SS = senior secondary; T = tertiary. In all cases, level shown or its equivalent. b. In many projects, some books were produced in the private sector and others were published commercially. OS = off the shelf; r/p = reprint; Adapt = adaptation. c. Parentheses indicate public-sector use of private authors. d. Under some projects, books may be sold at one level and rented or free at others. Parentheses indicate a pilot project or restricted application. r. Reprint. o. Off the shelf purchase. Appendix 2 Characteristics of Textbook Provision (continued) Cost recovery/ DevelopmentP I Authorshipc Production Distribution sharingd Appro- Target Lent Sold Rental/ Country Title No. val levela Public Private Public Private Public Private Public Private Free User Fee Senegal Primary Education Development Project C1735 1987 P x x x x x Sbnegal Second Human Resources Development Project: Education V C2473 1993 P x x x x x x Senegal Higher Education Project C2872 1996 T xI x x x x Senegal Quality Education for All C3333 2000 P/LS x x x x P S Sierra Leone Third Education Project C1353 1983 P x x x x x Somalia Education Rehabilitation Project (suspended) C2111 1990 P x x x x x (x) Sudan Emergency Flood Reconstruction Project C2011 1989 P x ? ? Swaziland Third Education Project L1792 1980 P x x x x x Tanzania Education Planning and Rehabilitation Project C2137 1990 S/T x x x x x x x x Togo Educational-Improvement D) Project C1568 1985 P x x x x x Togo Education Rehabilitation Project C2752 1995 P/LS x0 x x x P S Uganda Third Education Project C1329 1983 P/S x x x x x Uganda Fourth Education Project C1965 1989 P x x x x x (x) Uganda Primary Education & Teacher Development Project C2493 1993 P x x x x x Zambia Education Rehabilitation Project C2429 1993 P x x x x x x x x x Zambia Basic Education Subsector Investment Program Support Project C3190 1999 P x x x x x x x x a. P = primary; LS lower (or junior) secondary; S = secondary; SS = senior secondary; T = tertiary. In all cases, level shown or its equivalent. b. In many projects, some books were produced in the private sector and others were published commercially. OS = off the shelf; r/p = reprint; Adapt = adaptation. c. Parentheses indicate public-sector use of private authors. d. Under some projects, books may be sold at one level and rented or free at others. Parentheses indicate a pilot project or restricted application. r. Reprint. o. Off the shelf purchase. ,THE-WORLD BANK 1818 H Street, .N.W. Washington,,.D.C. 20433, U.S.A. Telephone: 202 477 1234 Facsimile- 202 477 6391 Internet www.worldbank.org E-mail: afrhdseries@worldbank:org The key role.textbooks and other written training materials play in enhancing the qualitV of education is universally recognized. Irms role is.especially important in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) wherethere generally is a severe-shortage of reading materials. To help coun- tries establish.systems that:canensure reliable provision ofteXtbooks has, theretore, been an important element of, the World Bank's support for.education development in Africa over the last two decades. Other-developnent agencies and..African Governments have made similar iiMv6stments. And yet. at the 'start .ofthe.twerty-1lrst,centuy. in many coun. tnes, thei majority of;the.pupils still lack the benetit ot'this valuable leaming-tool The main purpose of;this -report is.toexPdore why this --is so. and to identify the challenges, that need.totbeovercome-to ensure that every'student has adequate access towgooalqual- ity textbooks. To. achieve this rapidly is crucial .to improving the quality of education and, more generalLy, to attaining the goal of good quality basic education for all by 20.15., The report is based on a degkIreview of 89,World Bank-financed education projects with text- books components under implementation during the period 1985 -. 2000 in 40 SSA,!coun- tries.-