Although in the western countries textbooks are written, produced and distributed by private companies, in Bangladesh textbooks are produced in two different ways. First, manuscripts are collected by calling tenders. Various authors submit manuscripts, which run into hundreds. Then these manuscripts are reviewed according to a set criteria and a number of them are selected. Finally after further review one book for each subject is selected.

The other system involves approaching renowned writers for writing manuscripts on various subjects. There are merits and demerits of both the systems. In the case of calling tenders substandard manuscripts may be submitted as competent authors may dislike the tender system. The reviewers may also fail to do a good job of selecting the best manuscripts. Besides the tenderers may try to influence the authorities. Hence there is a chance of a poor quality book being selected.

In the second case the chance of getting a good quality book is much more as they are written by specialised authors. The review committee who reviews the books should be highly knowledgeable. So that there are no mistakes or errors in the books.

It is very unfortunate that textbooks in our country are reviewed according to some vague criteria. As a result quality of the manuscripts are not accurately ascertained. In order to rate the books properly criteria such as the following should be considered.

* How well does the book achieve the objectives of the course?
* How well does the book give satisfactory coverage to subject matter?
* How satisfactory is organisation of material for effective learning and for course of study?
* How clearly is the material written?
* How effective is the material for student interest?
* How appropriate is vocabulary and style of presentation for students for whom the book is intended?
* How accurate and up-to-date are contents?
* How helpful to the learning process are the illustrative materials?
* How adequate are study aids, suggested activities, bibliographies, and other teaching aids?
* How durable is the construction and paper?
* How clear, readable, and attractive is type?
* How adequate is the general over-all eye appeal?
* How adequate is its size for students?

A 5-point scale as superior, good, fair, poor, and unsatisfactory may be used for rating the book. More than one expert can rate the manuscripts on these criteria and the rating could be averaged. In this way it is hoped that the best book will be selected.

Personally, however, I feel that books should not be written by calling tenders. Because this system is likely to lead to selection of poor books. Certainly, it should be a good idea to get the textbooks written by eminent educationists. But there may be a problem with the educationists in that they sometimes delay in writing and submitting the books. Even then this is the best methods of getting good textbooks. The quality of textbooks currently being used in Bangladesh schools is poor in every respect. While we frequently express that the children are our future, we print textbooks for them on newsprint. These have soft cover and are destroyed within 4-6 months. It is not a good idea to change textbooks frequently. Textbooks should be made at least for five years and these should have hard covers and printed on good quality paper.

Textbook approval authority
Starting from receiving a manuscript and reviewing it by the review committee, the role of a textbook authority is important. The functions of the authority would be to take care of manuscripts, review them and accept them for publication. After selection of the book, its printing and distribution is the next step.

Now the question is how the authority should be formed? It can be headed by a chairman, who may be a retired government high official or a distinguished professor of any university. There may be three members who can be government high officials on deputation knowledgeable about book selection. There should also be concomitant staff who are essential for the efficient functioning of the textbook approval authority. While rating textbooks, subject experts should be invited from the universities and colleges.

It should be remembered that selection of a suitable textbook is very important for the sake of education, so due importance should be given on appointing an appropriate Textbook Approval Authority.

Printing and distribution
The printing quality of the present textbooks is very poor. It is a contradiction that we place so much importance on our children as future leaders of the country, but in reality we neglect them. The students of the country naturally deserve well-printed and well-bound text books.

The present practice of printing text books through tender should be abolished because these books are not becoming attractive, infested with printing errors and printed on newsprint which is not long lasting.

The problem may be solved by installing six latest model off-set presses in six divisions for printing good quality texts books. For distribution of the printed text books, stores should be built in the divisions and districts as needed. Needless to say that this is a very important matter because we don't wish to short-change our future leaders of the country.

Dr Ashraf Ali is Director, IER, DU.