Developing a National Book Policy for Malawi

• In Event: The Politics of the Curriculum

Proposal

Malawi National Book Policy

A National Book Policy is a vital way of catalyzing change within an education system and across society. It is an important key to raising the visibility of the importance of books by outlining critical issues, defining the stakeholders of a book sector, and addressing important questions of planning and financing for necessary books. Book sector actors across Africa have consistently identified the lack of National Book and Reading Policies as a major impediment to the creation of a robust publishing sector. The Association for the Development of Education in Africa states in its Continental Book and Reading Policy Framework that:

“Lack of all-inclusive enabling policies continues to impede the growth of Africa's book industry - its competitiveness in the world market and capacity to adequately fulfil the desirable educational, cultural and social needs of the continent. Africa's contribution to global book trade remains low (estimated at below 5%, of which more than 80% are textbooks), while local book trade's contribution to national GDP is negligible. … Besides direct economic contribution however, the book industry is key to the educational and social development of a country, and hence to true nationhood.”


Given the strategic role of the book sector, it is critical to ensure that the roles of all stakeholders, including governments, authors, publishers, printers, booksellers, librarians, readers, and archivists, are recognized, developed, and nurtured so they can perform optimally in the support and realization of quality education.

After decolonization and independence, many countries in Africa sought to take control of their education and textbook systems, through the establishment of monopolistic state publishing houses, printing plants, and distribution systems, based on socialist models. The materials produced by State publishing companies were generally considered to be of low quality, and the overall effect was devastating to private sector publishing.

In 1991, the World Bank called for liberalization of textbook publishing and in the ensuing years, private publishers began to grow and multiply throughout Africa.

An open and competitive private sector publishing industry is essential in a democracy, allowing for plurality of viewpoints and freedom of expression. The tension between a State’s desire to control the textbook industry and the need for a thriving publishing sector is still playing out in nations such as Tanzania, Rwanda, Ghana and others.

The Malawian government recently undertook the task of developing a National Book Policy. Over the course of a year, workshops were held with key stakeholders across the country to discuss areas such as planning book development, creation of titles, production, manufacturing, distribution, dissemination, and use. The government of Malawi was the key player in numerous areas such as managing copyright, tax regimes, publisher incentives, law enforcement etc. with the overall goal of ensuring the coordination and harmonization of activities to create a conducive environment for the sustainable development of the book industry.

A special task force, comprising officials from the Ministries of Education; Justice; Trade and others, as well as development partners and members of the private sector, was named and endorsed by the Ministry of Education to study the issues and draft a policy. Regional consultations were held to discuss the policy and sensitize Malawians to the issues contained in it, and a final Task Force stakeholder validation workshop was held in October 2022. In December 2022, after a full year of development and participation by all stakeholders in the book sector, the Malawi National Book Policy was ready to be presented to the MoE for adoption into law. Further discussions with the Ministry of Education are planned in 2023 and this CIES presentation will provide an overview of the entire process of developing a National Book Policy.

Authors

• Julianna Julianna Nielsen Nielsen, Edcucation Development Center EDC

• Laura Conrad, USAID Center for Education

• Dorah Nyirenda