Texts books for schools ready

Government, on Friday, secured 173,273 science textbooks to be distributed to schools across the country. This is the second batch of books delivered to the Ministry of Education by Bulk Printing Press Limited, one of the local contractors printing textbooks for schools in the country. The company had earlier delivered 123,000 copies of books to the Ministry.

Accordingly, Deputy Minister of Education, Reverend John Ntim Fordjour, has praised the Ghanaian printers for justifying the need for the country to engage local companies in the discharge of government projects.

According to the Deputy Minister, government stands justified in awarding the contract for printing of textbooks for schools in the country to local printing companies, who have been able to deliver on their mandates within schedule.

“Indeed we at the Ministry of Education are satisfied with the quality of job done so far. Today we are here at Buck Press and we have inspected the machinery, the processes, and the final product and we are satisfied with the quality of work done,” he stressed.

Local contractors

Buck Press Limited is one of the local companies that have been awarded the contract to print textbooks for schools in the country.

It has so far printed over 60 per cent of science textbooks for schools in the country and has assured the Ministry that it will finish with the printing of the books before the 90-day period given to it.

The Deputy Minister explained that their assessment of work done so far showed that the books printed were comparable to or even better than others that had been imported into the country.

He said the decision to award the contract to local printing houses had enhanced local capacity, revamped the printing industry and created employment in the country.

“This single decision will go a long way to ensure that many more people are employed to fill up gaps in many more printing houses and many print houses that have been dormant for years will receive revitalisation,” he emphasised. He also commended Buck Press for its level of efficiency and professionalism.

On his part, the Executive Director of Buck Press, Mr Francis Nyanin, said his outfit had the capacity to deliver on local supplies and would be happy if government would consider more local contractors in the printing industry.

He assured the Ministry that work was in progress and it would deliver on the entire contract ahead of schedule.