All publishers allowed to produce, sell prescribed textbooks<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The government threw its weight behind
\npublishers' calls to be allowed to publish prescribed school
\ntextbooks on Thursday, saying it would be helpful to the
\ngovernment's efforts to provide textbooks for schools throughout
\nthe country.<\/p>\n
\"The government has limited resources for the procurement of
\nprescribed school textbooks. We have to cooperate with various
\ninstitutions, including publishers, to address the problem,\"
\nMinister of National Education Abdul Malik Fajar told reporters
\nafter opening a seminar here on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Allowing publishers to enter such business, would help efforts
\nto meet the increasing demand for prescribed school textbooks, he
\nadded.<\/p>\n
Malik Fajar was responding to a call by the Indonesian
\nPublishers Association (IKAPI) that the government allow all
\npublishers to produce and sell prescribed school textbooks,
\ncurrently dominated by certain publishers who obtain the right
\nthrough \"unfair\" bidding process.<\/p>\n
The tender system has been widely criticized as being rampant
\nwith collusion and corruption.<\/p>\n
However, he added, the government and IKAPI would work
\ntogether to monitor the quality of the textbooks produced by the
\npublishers so that they met national standards and were according
\nto the national curricula.<\/p>\n
In addition, Malik Fajar said, schools would also have the
\nfreedom of choosing their own textbooks according to their needs.<\/p>\n
Currently, schools do not have the authority to choose their
\nown textbooks. The prescribed textbooks were supplied by the
\ngovernment.<\/p>\n
The head of the Book Center (Pusbuk) at the Ministry of
\nNational Education, Agam Suchad, told The Jakarta Post that in
\nthe future, Pusbuk would no longer produce prescribed school
\ntextbooks and that schools would be free to choose their own
\ntextbooks.<\/p>\n
Pusbuk will also maintain its function of controlling the
\nquality of the school textbooks produced by the publishers to
\nensure they were in accordance with school curricula.<\/p>\n
\"The government will still have to control the quality of
\nschool textbooks, from the quality of the writers up to the
\nproduction process. Pusbuk will study the books before and after
\nthey are published,\" Agam said.<\/p>\n
Agam also said that to enable schools to buy textbooks from
\npublishers, the government would provide funds in the form of a
\nblock grant. (07)<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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