According to reports, under the current system, various groups of authors worked with different publishers, submitted their textbooks to the ministry, and specialist review panels evaluated them before they received ministry approval. Schools then were able to choose between several ministry-approved textbooks for each subject and year.
In the new model, the ministry itself will produce the textbooks through ‘experts’ it selects, following a ‘one book for all schools’ principle. The Education Ministry explained this as a move to streamline school education, but critics have raised concerns about the state’s alleged intent to control textbook content.
The Georgian government’s move follows similar initiatives in Mexico and the Dominican Republic.
Jessica Sänger, Chair of the IPA’s Freedom to Publish Committee said: The shift to single government textbooks is a severe restriction of the freedom to publish in the educational space. We urge the Georgian government to reconsider and create conditions for diverse resources for all types of learner.
Christoph Pienkoss, Chair of the IPA’s Educational Publishers Forum added: The best educational outcomes – both in terms of didactics and of cost-efficiency – are achieved when governments collaborate with teachers and publishers to provide a range of educational resources that secure choice for teachers and pupils. Single textbook policies don’t do this, they deprive teachers of a broad range of expertise that can support them in their work, and the ratio between quality and costs is always negative.
José Manuel Anta, Vice Chair of the EPF said: Georgian students deserve to have access to the highest-quality educational resources from a wide range of publishers in a free and competitive market. Georgian teachers should be allowed to choose those textbooks that best suit their students. This will guarantee a better outcome for the Georgian education system.
IPA’s provisional member, The Georgian Book Association reacted to the decision here.
IPA’s associate member, the European Educational Publishers Group reacted here.