Ghana Book Devt Council Bill, not NaCCA can sanction publishers of unapproved textbooks – Adutwum

The circulation of textbooks with prejudiced content against Ewes is as a result of the lack of an enforcement regime for the National Council for Curriculum Assessment (NaCCA), Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, Ghana’s Minister of Education has said.

He explained that the yet to be approved Ghana Book Development Council Bill is what will provide the framework for sanctioning such deviant publishers, and not NaCCA.

He made this known while answering questions in Parliament on Thursday, March 25, 2021, on the content of books that cast a slur on the Ewe people as asked by North Tongu MP, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, reports citinewsroom.com.

“The Ghana Book Development Council Bill has those provisions for sanctions to be taken against publishers like this. Unfortunately, the NaCCA Act does not make provision for that so in as much as you are scandalized and you do not want to see these things happening, in terms of the legal framework in which NaCCA operates, they do not have the room to do that but the Book Development Council is going to cure this deficiency,” he said.

Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa had filed an urgent question for the Minister to explain how the books got into the public domain, describing the books as “bigoted.”

Social media as well as all quarters concerned about the contents of the book were awash with criticisms of the book which was published by the Badu Nkansah Publishers.

The National Council for Curriculum Assessment subsequently clarified that the controversial textbooks had not been approved for use in schools.

Titled History of Ghana, Text Book 3, the Badu Nkansah and Nelly Martinson Anim authored books with another, the Golden English Basic 4, which was authored by Okyere Baafi Alexander were said to contain bigoted content targeted at Ewes.

Subsequently though, the publishers apologized.