Government should be responsible for buying textbooks
The issue of whether or not parents should buy textbooks for their children has generated serious public debate in recent times.
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Some people are of the view that the government should not be saddled with the problem of buying textbooks for schoolchildren.
They still argue that with the increasing trend in the population of children in the country, it will be too expensive for the government to assume that responsibility. It is further contended that resources that would be channelled into the provision of textbooks could be used to expand educational facilities in the country.
However, there are several reasons why I think parents should not buy textbooks for their children.
Firstly, looking at the level of poverty in this country, it will be unfair for one to suggest that parents should buy textbooks for their children. If the government should insist that parents buy textbooks for their children, then it will mean that majority of Ghanaian children will be denied textbooks for no fault of theirs since majority of parents are poor.
How can the new educational reform be successful if only a few schoolchildren can get textbooks to study?
Similarly, there is serious unemployment on our hands. Most people find it difficult to afford two square meals a day as a result of their inability to get decent jobs to do. How can we expect people who depend on menial jobs for survival to get money to purchase textbooks for their wards for academic purposes?
Ironically, these are people who form majority of Ghanaians today. expecting these people to buy textbooks for their children is to suggest that their children should not be educated at all.
Furthermore, a cursory look at the number of schools in most areas shows that any policy that is geared towards parents buying textbooks for their children or wards will be a self-inflicted disaster. How many bookshops do we have in the rural areas where a greater number of our schools are established?
It is no secret that every parent who can afford it find it difficult to get textbooks for their children in most rural areas in the country. So why not encourage the government to supply these textbooks to all schools gratuitously.
Finally, it is an indisputable fact that the illiteracy rate in the country is very high. So why do we expect illiterate parents to buy textbooks for their children.
It is in the light of the above reasons that I disagree with the suggestion that parents should buy textbooks for their children. It should be the responsibility of the government.
frimpong.edward@yahoo.com
0243651928.