Education: ‘Made in Gabon’ textbooks finally available, at what cost? | Gabonreview.com

Expected for several days, the school textbooks of the 4^e and 5^e years of primary school are finally available. Nearly 2 million books from the “Super efficient” collection were received at the end of last week by the Minister of National Education. Textbooks designed and adapted to the realities of Gabonese society.

The Minister of National Education, Camélia Ntoutoume-Leclercq, proceeded on September 20, 2024 to Multipress-Gabon, to the reception of the new school textbooks “made in Gabon» intended for classes of 4^e and 5^e primary school years. Designed by experienced Gabonese professionals, these school textbooks are adapted to the socio-cultural and economic context of the country.

“We are proud of these new textbooks that will allow us to complete the pre-primary primary collection, and to have the history of Gabon in better detail in these textbooks. Children are re-appropriating the history of Gabon. When we talk about our forest, it is our animals: monkeys, gorillas that are illustrated. We talk about agriculture, it is what we consume locally: cassava, yams, taros, bananas… So, children are re-appropriating their identity.“, explained Camélia Ntoutoume-Leclercq.

For this year 2024-2025, nearly two million works have been produced, made up of books on mathematics, history-geography, science and French from the collection “Super efficient” for public primary schools. “These target situation workbooks are really suitable for our children. It is time for our children to take ownership of our cultural identity.” she added.

This endogenous production is the materialization of the National Transition Development Plan, placing education at the center of government priorities. The goal is to give students the opportunity to learn in a stimulating educational environment, which is familiar to them, while promoting a better understanding of their history, their culture, and finally to appropriate Gabonese cultural values.

These new textbooks will then be deployed throughout the country to public primary schools starting next week.

Several parents are already complaining, however, about the cost of these new works published in Gabon and by Gabonese people. The “Super efficient» French is sold at 7,200 FCFA for the 4^e and for the 5^e year, the “Super efficient » math 4^e and 5^e year costs 7,000 FCFA. However, during the 2023-2024 school year, the most expensive book was 4,000 FCFA. In the opinion of many parents, it will be very difficult for the average Gabonese to obtain these books. They ardently hope that the transitional authorities will look into the prices of these textbooks in order to help economically weak families in particular.