Research

 

First Step to Achieving Quality Education: Getting Books in the Hands of Children

Education is a human right and a force for sustainable development and peace. Each aspect in the 2030 Agenda needs education to empower people with the knowledge, skills and values to live in prestige, create their lives and contribute to their communities.

"Next to a good teacher, well-designed textbooks in sufficient quantities are the most effective way to improve students' learning," says Mr Benavot, director of UNESCO’s Global Education Monitoring Report.

The function of instructional materials in the teaching/learning process cannot be exaggerated. They facilitate and promotes self-study in students.

Unfortunately, not all children have access to education.

·        Right now, 264.3 million school aged children have either never been to school or have dropped out early.

·     Six out of ten are not acquiring basic literacy and numeracy after several years in school. 750 million adults are illiterate, fueling poverty and marginalization.

·         The UNESCO study claims that providing one textbook per pupil in sub-Saharan African countries would increase literacy scores by between 5% and 20%.

·         There is a lack of spending on textbooks by governments, with some using less than 1% of education budgets on books.

 

Reports alert that the increasing number of pupils in countries such as Kenya, Malawi and Namibia are making textbooks even scarcer.

 

Outdated and worn-out textbooks are frequently shared by six or more students in many parts of the world.

In Tanzania, for example, only 3.5% of all sixth-grade pupils had sole use of a reading textbook.

In Cameroon, there are 11 primary school students for every reading textbook and 13 for every mathematics textbook in second grade.

A 20-year study of 27 countries found that children growing up in homes with many books get three years more schooling than their peers who come from homes without books. 

Most students in the developed world will go through resources like:

Ø  Textbooks;

Ø  Pens, Paper and Pencils;

Ø  Specialist mathematics tools such as compasses and protractors;

Ø  Literacy books

Ø  Computers and laptops for writing essays.

Yet many children around the world do not have basic resources. Without the above resources, students’ learning is impeded.

There is no one-size-fits-all answer to improve the quality of education in poor countries. However, there is lots of potential for creativity in addressing some of the most significant obstacles to boosting reading skills, such as the lack of sufficient reading materials at school and at home. Innovation is needed to help build a vibrant literacy culture in impoverished communities where there are relatively few books, considerably fewer books in local languages and that deal with culturally relevant issues.