Textbooks delivered to all schools on time

Independent Newspapers

Limpopo's schools have received their textbooks, according to the provincial MEC for basic education. File photo: Itumeleng English

Johannesburg - Delivery trucks drove at night during the three-week-long truck drivers’ strike in October.

This was to ensure that at least 90 percent of textbooks were delivered to the country’s schools before the December holidays.

The Publishers’ Association of South Africa (Pasa) says all textbooks that were ordered for this academic year have been delivered as a result.

Pasa made this announcement in Joburg on Thursday, saying that Limpopo, which had major problems with textbooks last year, had received 100 percent of its material by October.

Pasa’s executive director, Brian Wafawarowa, said 90 percent of the textbooks were delivered to central warehouses across all the other provinces by November for distribution to schools.

“The remaining 10 percent, which was for Section 21 schools that are self-managing and procure their books through individual suppliers and book sellers, was delivered during December and early January,” he said.

Pasa’s 182 members currently supply more than 90 percent of all Learner and Teacher Support Materials (LTSM) used in schools.

Wafawarowa said planning for 2014 is already under way. He said the catalogue, which contains all the prescribed books for schools, was set to be completed and submitted to publishers by the end of March.

Schools were expected to place their orders in August, and if this was done timeously, textbooks should be delivered to schools before the December holidays.

Wafawarowa said the LTSM Forum, a group of publishers and representatives from all the provincial departments of education, was set up by the Department of Basic Education to improve the planning and procurement of textbooks.

Mandla Balisa, Pasa’s chairman, said the provision of textbooks was much quicker because the process was centralised and publishers didn’t have to deal with each province “doing its own thing”.

He commended the role played by the media and NGOs such as Equal Education and Section27 in monitoring the Limpopo situation.

nontobeko.mtshali@inl.co.za

The Star