Despite extensive technical support and funding from external partners, making textbooks affordable and available to students remains an elusive objective for most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. This study asks why it has been so hard to improve textbook provision comparative to other regions, exploring the cost and financial barriers. Recognising that progress has been hampered by the limited capacity to translate knowledge into action, this study aims to generate discussions among policy makers, development partners and other stakeholders in Africa on the policy options that can help reduce textbook costs and increase their supply.
It first highlights textbook availability, factors which cause textbook scarcity and reiterates the need to address shortages before focusing on the following questions:
- What is the actual cost of textbooks in the region? How much scope is there for lowering these costs?
- What share of education budgets do countries actually allocate to teaching and learning materials (TLM)? What shares would be needed to meet national targets in systems that have achieved affordable unit and system textbook costs?
Main findings
- Severe shortages of comparable data make it difficult to assess why textbooks cost so much and are in short supply and the state of their funding
- Insufficient financing is the main and most common constraint, although this need not be a binding
- Most SSA countries face severe book shortages even in core subjects and the level of scarcity has not improved much in recent decades
- Shortages of TLM undermine better learning
- Production cost may not be the one offering the greatest scope for cost savings
- Shortage of adequate and predictable funding is a constraint on availability
- Landscape and potential for elearning are rapidly changing, with choices neither simple nor cost efficient
Recommendations
- Choose cost-effective teaching and learning material packages when developing the curriculum and making evidence-based choices about textbooks, teachers’ guides, libraries and between written/electronic materials
- Improve textbook procurement by ensuring price and production specifications are included in textbook evaluation and by using CSOs to help with monitoring
- Develop and implement cost reduction strategies by reviewing full scope for reducing total annual costs of providing all pupils with the necessary TLM
- Monitor each school’s textbook availability and need for annual replenishments, holding school managers accountable
- Ensure predictable and sustainable financing for timely procurement
Strong political will is necessary to ensure that the recommendations above will be implemented and sustained.
