FOREIGN PRINTING OF TEXTBOOKS AFFECT PRINTING INDUSTRY ….PRINTERS KICK AGAINST FOREIGN PRINTS The practice of printing Government awarded textbook printing contracts outside the country at the expense of local printers is adversely affecting the Printing Industry according to Ghana Book Publishers Association (GBPA).
At a stakeholders’ engagement on Textbook Development and Distribution Policy (TDDP) in Accra, an Executive Member of GBPA, Mr. Woeli Dekutsey, said: “Though Government recently selected eight printers for contracts, which was a real hope but cold comfort, currently publishers give out printing contracts to printers in countries such as India, China and Singapore.” The practice, the association said, was against Ghana Textbook Policy that requires “publishers who win government contracts to give not less than 60 per cent of such contracts to local printers to print school textbooks.” Going down memory lane, Mr. Dekutsey informed that: “In the year 2008, publishers used 40 per cent of local printers. Four years after (in 2012) they used 20 per cent of local printers. It means publishers are not giving a fair percentage of contracts to local printers and this is going to adversely affect the printing industry,”.
Reeling out statistics to aid his presentation, he disclosed that based on research on “Resuscitating and Enforcing the TDDP,’ GBPA found out that Government spent GH¢156 million on textbooks from 2004 to 2012. However, he noted regrettably that less than 20 per cent of the 120 publishers, who had enrolled with the association, won government tenders.
“The government is spending more money on the procurement of textbooks and only six per cent on supplementary readers contrary to the fact that majority of publishers are into publishing of supplementary readers,” he explained, stressing further that ideally the Textbook Policy required one student to one book but currently on the average the research found out that “we have two students sharing the same book.”
The meeting brought together diverse representatives in the book chain such as publishers, authors, printers and distributors to discuss the Textbook Development and Distribution Policy with a view and obtain feedback from them, especially in the areas of pricing, printing, evaluation and timing for government to purchase textbooks.
While noting the economic advantages of printing outside the shore of Ghana, Mr. Dekutsey advised local printers to be educated on how they could standardise their printing cost estimates to suit government demands. “The turnaround is better, there is quality printing and less variation in printing cost contrary to the cost variations among local printers that are very shocking,” he stated as he pointed out that there were clear guidelines for the implementation of the Textbook Development Policy though its implementation had been fraught with challenges.
NEED FOR LEGISLATION In a related development, President of GBPA, Mr. Elliot Agyare, said the absence of a legislation on the Textbook Policy in the past had caused previous Ministers of Education to subject the policy to diverse interpretations. He therefore, expressed satisfaction with the call by the current Minister of Education, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, for the enactment of a legislation that would ensure sustainable book development and printing in the country, especially with active involvement of the private sector.
The President of GBPA, Mr. Elliot Agyare (right), chatting with Mr Richard Crabbe (2nd right), a former President of the association; Mrs. Felicia Boakye-Yiadom of the National Curriculum and Assessment Council and Mr. James Appiah Berko (left), President of the Ghana Printers and Paper Converters Association, after the event. Picture credit: Nana Konadu Agyeman of Graphic Online.
