July, 2022

Creating awareness for the National Book Policy and sustainable printing methods in Nigeria

During the week of July fourth, over 60 governmental-, non-governmental and private stakeholders came together in Abuja for a week filled with training and workshops organised by PLANE. These stakeholders included the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Education, the Federal Ministry of Education, relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAS), book supply chain organisations (authors, printers, publishers and booksellers), and representatives from Kaduna Kano and Jigawa states. PLANE is a seven-year educational programme to enable Nigeria’s more inclusive and effective basic education system. PLANE commissioned BlueTree group to map out the status of the book supply chain in Nigeria, several key observations made in this research were discussed during the workshops.

National Book Policy Nigeria

A National Book Policy is a coherent set of regulations and indicators that govern factors and stakeholders within the book supply chain, including the production, printing, distribution, and dissemination of books and other reading materials. In 2016 a draft National Book Policy was formulated and approved by the highest educational decision-making body, the National Council on Education (NCE), for legalisation; however, the policy did not pass through the legislative process as recommended by NCE.

The review and further development of the National Book Policy of Nigeria being one of PLANE’s objectives, the draft policy was reviewed and analysed the PLANE and BTG. During the first two days of the workshops, discussions around the draft national book policy were conducted among the stakeholders, resulting in information exchange. The importance and relevance of the policy was acknowledged and the NCE was commended on the initiative of developing it.

Christophe Barth PLANE

Track and Trace Implementation

During the first two days, one of the activities was a workshop on implementing a Track and Trace system. This system discussed the importance and confirmation of having government and donor-supplied books reaching the hands of learners. Over the years, it has been found that some of these books never reach the schools. Books get lost along the book supply chain or are not picked up by the headteachers, leaving fewer books in children’s hands. Track and trace is a possible solution to track and understand where the books have gone. Track and trace is a technology-driven system that allows traceability, visibility and transparency of the book supply chain. There were a lot of enthusiastic reactions from the audience.

Technical Workshop for Printers

On Wednesday and Thursday, workshops were conducted with local printers, the printers organisation CIPPON and government stakeholders related to procurement and book production. During the workshops, sustainable printing methods were discussed, which will help increase the competitiveness of local printers in international procurements. The sustainable printing methods included print registration systems, signature image recognition, book cover protection, bindings and different paper types.

We look back at a successful week filled with interesting conversations and insights. Many thanks for the organisation on the ground, and we look forward to coming back to Nigeria soon.

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