It was disclosed to this medium by Malick Kanuteh, chairman of the Association of Gambian Authors for Schools (AGAS).
The project, he said, was awarded to the Gambia Printing and Publishing Corporation in consultation with Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education.
“34 textbooks are ready and first set supplied to schools in September 2024. Funds are released from Ministry of Finance for onward payments to GPPC via MOBSE. Publishing of the textbooks were pre-financed by GPPC at a tune of D28 million. Ministry of Finance released out of the D58.1M, D52.8m for the production of the first set already in schools,” he added.
Association of Gambian Authors for Schools, he went on, no longer owns these textbooks as ownership is transferred to the national publishing house GPPC.
During presentation at GPPC office in September 2024, it was mentioned that authors association will be called upon to update the books every 3 years to incorporate any teaching and examination syllabus adjustments by curriculum unit of MOBSE or WAEC.
This, he said, will be done in collaboration with GPPC readers who are contracted on full time or part time basis for publishing of educational materials.
The authors in turn will be paid royalties from GPPC on terms that is yet to be discussed by parties, saying this arrangement makes the government save millions annually; also, it makes textbooks available to schools and students in right quantity, making recycling of textbooks a thing of the past.
He thanked the Ministries of Finance and Basic and Secondary Education for their level of cooperation, further commending The Gambian leader, Adama Barrow for his foresight and visionary leadership, as this initiative materialised in his tenure.
