Ondo Bans Unapproved Books in Schools

By James Sowole in Akure

The Ondo State Government has declared that any author or publisher that fails to submit his or her book for the forthcoming review stands no chance of having such book recommended for usage in public and private schools in the state.

The Commissioner for Education, Mr. Femi Agagu, who stated this while speaking with journalists in Akure on the forthcoming exercise, said the government would no longer tolerate the usage of unapproved books and instructional materials in private and public secondary schools in the state.
He said the state is committed to ensuring quality education for the pupils of the state to enhance their performance in national and international examination.

According to the commissioner, books for primary and secondary schools in the state are reviewed periodically by the government, while the primary school books are reviewed every five years, books for the secondary schools are reviewed every three years.
He said the state is set to conduct review of all books and that all stakeholders, publishers and authors must participate in the review

“The books for primary schools were last reviewed in the 2017/2018 academic session and will lapse in 2021/2022 session, while that of secondary schools were last reviewed in 2015 and will lapse in July 2018.
“Any publisher or author that fails to participate in the review exercise will not have his book reviewed and any book that is not reviewed and approved by the government will not be allowed to be used in our schools, both private and public schools.

“The book review will include content, quality of print, paper quality and other things. The books that will be reviewed must have ISPN number and must be of standard,” the commissioner stated.
He said the state would never allow the imposition of books on both public and private schools in the state, adding that all stakeholders in the educating sector would participate in the forthcoming exercise.

He therefore mandated all principals and head teachers of private and public secondary schools to make recourse for approved list of books from the ministry, saying that “this will go a long way to checkmate the use of substandard books in the years ahead.”

Agagu said the process involved in the recommendation of books for schools in the state makes imposition impossible as the process involves many stakeholders in the education sector.