Government bans private companies from publishing textbooks

The decision was made after complaints were made about the poor quality, grammatical and typographical errors often made in textbooks published by private firms.

The government destroyed 2.8 million textbooks for Standard One and Two pupils after it was realised that the books had too many mistakes to render them useful for teaching.

However, there have been mixed reactions from stakeholders who expressed disappointment following the government decision saying it would further sink the country's education sector, The Citizen Tanzania reported.

The Publishers Association of Tanzania executive secretary (Pata), Mr Benito Mtulo, said the association "has been saddened by the government's decision, which was made before consulting them."

HakiElimu research and policy analysis manager Godfrey Bonaventura differed with the other stakeholders, applauding the government's decision.

"We've received the news with sheer delight as the decision would lead to improved quality in the education sector. We hope students will now have textbooks of good quality contrary to what is the case currently," he said.

H/T: The Citizen Tanzania.

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