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Arthur Attwell |
Please explain, very briefly, the content of the South African Department of Basic Education’s proposed National Policy for the Provisioning and Management of Learning and Teaching Support Material for Grade R–12?
The proposed policy includes lots of good, important ideas, like helping schools use textbooks for longer (to save costs) and encouraging the use of open content. But it also includes a dramatic measure to buy just one textbook in each subject, per grade, for the whole country.
What do you believe is the main motive behind this policy?
The policy actually isn't very clear on the thinking behind the one-textbook model, except to suggest that it will reduce costs and make distribution easier. Without seeing their calculations, it's impossible to imagine how this might be true, since economies of scale are negligible once you print more than, say, 100 000 copies of a given book.
What will the effect of this policy be on teachers, learners and publishers, respectively, should it be legislated?
There are three big concerns. First, it would be very dangerous to have a state institution choose one version of subjects like history, life orientation and literature for all our children in a given grade.
Second, by picking one textbook, the government would create monopolies for the people that produce them. (That might even be the state itself.) Monopolies stifle innovation and, without ongoing competition, lead to higher prices over time.
And thirdly, learners are diverse. Different learners need different kinds of textbooks, chosen school by school for their specific needs. Especially to a learner with weak teachers, an inappropriate textbook would be disastrous.
Is there any reason to hope that this policy will be stopped before it is legislated?
It's hard to believe good sense will let the policy pass unchanged. However, I've heard one senior DBE official say that the policy's procurement model, which includes the process for buying just one textbook, is not negotiable. And the minister has said publicly on at least two occasions that this policy is going ahead, without any reference to the fact that it's still in a public-comment stage.
What reaction have you had to your petition to stop this policy?
In just three days we've had over a thousand signatures, with hundreds of comments in support of the petition. That's far more than I expected.
Until when will the public have time to lodge protest against the policy?
The original announcement on 4 September gave us just three weeks to comment, but Alan Subban of the DBE told publishers recently that submissions could be made till Wednesday 8 October.
What Plan B do publishers have if this policy materialises, if any?
Each publisher will be making their own plan. Some publishers are very dependent on regular sales to government, and they may be thinking through contingency plans to reduce staff, cut back on research and development, and shift resources to publishing for private schools, who can choose their own books. That's a real pity for the state sector, of course. Many will try to weather the storm for a few years, in the hope that they might be lottery winners in a state purchase scheduled for 2016. Of course, only deep-pocketed companies will manage this, all of whom are owned by large multinationals. Once the policy comes into effect next year, smaller local schoolbook publishers are very unlikely to survive more than a year or two without government sales.
Support the petition: Don't prescribe only one textbook for every South African child
More information
Lees ook:
• DBO se een boek per vak per graad: Waarom is die skrywers so stil?
• The South African Society for History Teaching's representative on the proposed one textbook policy
• Skuil daar nog iets agter "een titel per vak, per graad, per taal"?
Kommentaar
This is exceptionally worrying. Thanks for raising awareness. Hopefully it will be reviewed.