President John Dramani Mahama has announced that his government is set to print all textbooks for basic schools across the country locally.
Historically, Ghana has outsourced textbook printing to countries in the Far East, Eastern Europe, and even the UK and Belgium, but more recently, there has been a push to print textbooks locally.
However, in recent times, Ghana has been printing its textbooks locally, with five printers, namely G-PAK Ltd, Buck Press, Appointed Time Printing Ltd, Jay Kay Industries Ltd, and Sec-print Ltd.
Way back 2022, it was put on record that these local printers had secured contracts to print textbooks under the new curriculum for basic schools.
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Therefore, it comes as a surprise that addressing the chiefs and people of Tamale on his 'Thank You' visit to the Northern Region on Saturday, President Mahama stated that: "If you recall, the previous administration changed the curriculum and yet refused to provide textbooks for our basic school students" and that "the no textbook phenomenon" would become a thing of the past.
Whatever the case is, The Ghanaian Times takes note of two important would-be outcomes of his move and progressive ones at that.
A total of GH¢564.6 million is earmarked for the printing of the textbooks locally and this is prudent because the local printers would have that money to support their ventures and hopefully create employment for some of the jobless youth and thereby boost the Ghanaian economy with all the benefits.
This would end the denial of local printers such contracts while the government would be saved freight charges and the books made readily available.
The second thing is that killing "the no textbook phenomenon" would boost basic school teaching and learning.
In spite of the world today being in digital age or era and the fact that some people raise issues with textbooks, they continue to hold some significance in the education system.
Don't be surprised to hear some people condemning textbooks with points including the fact that the textbook is designed as the sole source of information and so students see only one perspective on a concept or issue; and the fact that contents can be outdated at a point, which can make some students pick incorrect information.
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Much as these points cannot be discounted, textbooks nonetheless have striking advantages, including the fact that they provide systematic, comprehensive structure for learning a particular subject, offering a well-sequenced progression of topics; and allow teachers from different schools or even different countries or regions to have a common reference point for what students should learn at each stage of schooling.
In this digital era when significant learning happens online but not without problems with the screen, textbooks offer a break from screen time.
The experts say reading from physical books can reduce digital eye strain and provide a different way to engage with learning.
Although the world appears to be electronically-connected because the internet is widely available, not all students have steady, reliable access to online resources at home or in even in their communities, so textbooks ensure that all students can access learning materials regardless of their internet situation and help them develop important skills like note-taking, highlighting, and summarising skills for both academic and future professional life.
