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Why Are There so Few Books in the Schools?
Information on Books and Education Materials (IBEM), is a joint initiative of the Working Groups on Books and learning Materials and Statistics. The project aims at developing a monitoring system that tracks books from design to classroom use of books. It has revealed some of the underlying problems of book shortages in Zambian schools--problems that prevail in many countries in Africa. The initiative is intended to facilitate better book production and distribution. This article highlights the preliminary results of the IBEM Initiative and illustrates the use of statistical information in book policy assessment.
Visitors in Africa often observe the shortage of books in the class rooms. For a long time, aid to education in Africa has tried to solve this problem by improving the production and supply of textbooks. Yet, recent research has shown that the problem is related to the coordination and distribution of textbook supplies as well as their production and supply. With better information on where books are in supply and where they are needed, scarce resources could be better used to meet acute shortages in priority areas.
Why statistics on books?
The lack of statistics on books is a major obstacle to adequate decision-making, management and policy formulation. One example of this can be drawn from a study that IBEM carried out in Zambia. This project on a book-tracking system was initiated by the Ministry of Education, the Publishers and Booksellers Association of Zambia, and the ADEA Working Groups on Education Statistics (WGES) and Books and Learning Materials (WGBLM). It was designed to help provide a better book tracking system with the goal of increasing transparency and cost effectiveness of the book sector.
The IBEM project revealed that vast quantities of books procured by the ministry do not reach the classrooms. In many cases, schools receive only a small fraction of the books reported to have been procured. For the first time, the task force's findings have provided a measure of the problem's magnitude.
The task force compared information on books that had been procured with information on books that were at the schools. Those working on the project compiled data on the subject, grade level, and publisher for each book title procured, the cost and the number of books procured for each title, the cost of distributing each title, and the total cost of each title (procurement plus distribution).
Through its Annual School Survey, the Planning and Statistics Unit collected information on book requirements and availability for each subject at each grade level: the total number of books needed, the annual stock of books available, and the number of books received in the previous year.
The shortfalls in books actually received were calculated from the data. By comparing information between the procurement of books and their destination, discrepancies were uncovered. The table on page 12 contains three examples from the preliminary results and reveals cases both of under-provision and over-procurement of books:
- For booklets prepared on the subject of HIV/AIDS, the schools needed 1.4 million supplementary -
readers, but only 120,000 were available.
- Although the procurement of 900,000 readers amounted to 70.3% of the need, only a tiny fraction (8.8%) of the books were delivered, leaving a shortfall of 1.28 million readers.
- Schools required a total of 170,634 grade 3 mathematics books in 1998, of which 35,206 were available. The ministry's Procurement Department had obtained 125,000 in 1997, of which schools had received only 9,660. This amounted to a mere 7.7% of the total procured books. Thus, schools were left with a shortfall of 135,426 books.
- A case of over-procurement was observed in books on Zambian languages for grade 8. The schools needed a total of 27,720 books, of which 15,136 were available, leaving a shortfall of only 12,584 books. The Ministry of Education procured 116,000 books, which more than covered the need. In spite of this, only 2.2% of the books were delivered to the schools.
What happened to the books that the ministry procured but the schools did not receive? IBEM is trying to find out. The reasons for these shortfalls may be due simply to delays in delivery, or they may involve more complex factors. In any case, the results of the survey demonstrate a need for better traceability in the management and distribution of books. Preliminary observations are as follows:
- Even at the procurement stage, the quantities supplied do not match the quantities required for each subject at each grade level.
- Vast quantities of procured books do not reach the classrooms because of delays or diversion.
- The number of titles delivered to the schools does not reflect what the schools need.
- Delivery systems do not target needy schools; some are over-supplied and some under-supplied.
- In general, there has been little if any coordinated resource planning and management of book delivery.
The next steps
The Zambian IBEM initiative will trace the whole book-chain, from procurement decisions to use of books. The task force designated by the Ministry of Education, includes a technical team made up of six units which are assigned specific tasks. Issues and tasks related to the Annual School Survey will be undertaken by the Planning and Information Department (PID), book procurement by the Procurement and Supplies Unit (MEPSU), monitoring book delivery and use by the Inspectorate, library services by the Zambia Library Services (ZLS), curriculum issues by the Curriculum Development Centre (CDC), and publishers and booksellers by the Book Publisher's Association of Zambia (BPAZ).
Full implementation of this system will be an integral part of Zambia's Basic Education Sub-Sector Investment Program (BESSIP). Updates on significant findings will be published in subsequent issues of the ADEA Newsletter.
EMANUEL SILANDA
DIRECTOR OF PLANNING AND STATISTICS,
MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, ZAMBIA
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