Business of education: Publishers divided over regulation of study aids

Sceptics fear many will be forced out of business if the new law is implemented by the PTCB


Ammar Sheikh August 17, 2015
Sceptics fear many will be forced out of business if the new law is implemented by the PTCB. PHOTO: QAZI USMAN/ EXPRESS

LAHORE:


Publishers and booksellers at the city’s biggest market for textbooks are divided on the proposed regulation of the printing of supplementary reading materials for school and college students under a new law passed by the Punjab Assembly.


Talking to The Express Tribune, several publishers in Urdu Bazaar said that if implemented it would damage the publishing sector. However, they said they had no plan of action yet to resist the move. They were unsure if the government was serious about regulation of printing of all supplementary materials. They said similar proposals had been put forth in the past but no action had resulted.

Waheed Qureshi, a publisher in Urdu Bazaar, said a majority of the publishers would be forced out of business if the new law was implemented in letter and spirit. He said the new law would affect students as well.

He said in an unregulated market students could choose from among a range of publishers when buying supplementary reading materials. If the law was implemented, publishers approved by the Punjab Textbook Board alone would be able to print the materials, he added.

Other publishers said the law would improve quality of supplementary reading materials available in the market.

Khalid Pervaiz, the president of the All Pakistan Traders’ Association, said that with a 19-member board (appointed by the PTBB) overseeing the publishing of the supplementary reading materials, the publishers would no longer need to worry about the quality of the content.

He said the board would be better placed to look after the quality of content because of greater resources at its disposal. He said the publishers picked up material from the internet and added it to the guides and key books without verifying its authenticity.

Talking to The Tribune, a spokesperson of the Punjab Curriculum and Textbook Board said teams had been formed and inspection raids would start soon.

He said the regulation of the publishing sector would help improve education standards in the province.

Publishers are required under the new law to seek the approval of a 19-member board to print any supplementary reading material under the Punjab Curriculum and Textbook Board Act of 2015. The Act says that supplementary material may include “guides, guess papers, get-through guides or any other reading material ancillary to a textbook”.

The Punjab Assembly had passed the act on February 23. The 19-member board will also oversee development and implementation of curricula and development and approval of school and college textbooks, and research and reference materials.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 18th, 2015.

 

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