Text books distribution to be completed this month

The massive distribution of text books in schools across the country is due to conclude by the end of this month. The campaign began in June last year as a measure to enhance the quality of education in schools and strengthen the use of English as a language of instruction. When the government made English the language of instruction in schools in 2009, there were very few English text books for teachers and students alike. The exercise will bring the scarcity of reading and teaching materials to an end, according to the Ministry of Education. Speaking to The New Times, Charles Gahima, the Director of the National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC) said that the campaign is almost complete. “By the end of July, the first phase of the distribution will be over because currently, 98 percent of the schools ordered for the books they need,” Gahima said. The first phase targets to distribute over 1.6 million books. Under a new arrangement, publishing companies will directly distribute the books to schools. The whole exercise will cost over Rwf5 billion upon completion. MINEDUC through NCDC decentralised the books’ procurement and supply exercise. Under the new system, schools are authorised to purchase the books. They choose the textbooks and teachers’ guides that interest them from an approved list of books provided by the publishers. According to Gahima, as a way of supporting school-based decision making, every school gets an annual per capita purchasing power budget to enable the selection of textbooks, teachers’ guides and other learning and teaching materials of their own choice. According to the 2010 statistics, there are 2, 510 Primary and 1, 399 secondary schools in the country, and the distribution exercise has to reach them all. Ends