The government has decided to allow private publication houses to print and distribute school textbooks from the new academic session.

Citing the delay in textbooks on the part of the state-owned school textbook publisher Janak Education Materials Centre (JEMC), the Ministry of Education had decided to allow private publications to print and distribute school text books from Grade I to III last week.

Delay in the distribution of school textbooks in remote districts hits students every year. Pointing at this problem, guardians and international donor agencies had been pressing the government to let the private sector print and distribute coursebooks.

The Curriculum Development Centre had proposed the idea of allowing private publishing houses to publish school textbooks.

According to the decision, private publication houses in all five development regions can print and distribute school textbooks of Grade I to III.

Meanwhile, private publishers in eastern and western development regions, which had been printing and distributing school textbooks for five years, have also been directed to print school textbooks for Grade I to III only, said Diwakar Dhungel, executive director, CDC.

“Now, the JEMC can print textbooks of higher classes only, while the private publishers will only print textbooks of Grade I, II and III,” he said.

Both sides, however, can distribute already published textbooks regardless of the grades, he said, adding that the private sector should follow JEMC guidelines on price and quality of textbooks.

The private publishing houses will lose their licences if they try to compromise on the quality of books and increase their prices, he said.

source: republica,11 Nov 2013