THE UNIQUE TEXTBOOK POLICY FROM TEACHER'S PERSPECTIVE

    It’s been some years now that students’ parents complain about the numerous and various textbooks used from one school to another and even from one teacher to another for a single course. Teachers choose schoolbooks according to their own consideration. 

To present, the government has decided what schoolbooks to use. The prescription is legal and mandatory for teachers who have to choose among these tools which ones to use for reaching courses educational objectives. First, this unique schoolbook policy wasn’t welcomed by many teachers; Mr. TEJIONA, a science teacher, showed another point of view, arguing that this policy puts together the knowledge taught in schools around the country and allows parents to save up some money when buying educational tools for children.

Finally, most of teachers agree with this unique schoolbooks policy, which implement a common education methodology and equal opportunities for all students from Koussery to Lomié through Bafut and Bandjock to get the same learning quality. Though this policy has met a large approval, Mrs ALLACHOKI, a German teacher, thinks that learning from a unique schoolbook is a good deal for parents only if these schoolbooks are of low cost; but from teachers’ view, it’s not easy to prepare and give lessons with a single textbook. The new policy is helpful for students and parents but restricts and gets the working materials and course contents poor.

Teachers are willing to give lessons with a single schoolbook as legally decided, but also admit how it is hard to limit courses to such a few materials. Reaching the national education program remains possible with a unique book but going further and giving greater results by using other educational resources is really threatened. That’s how teachers argue with the same voice: the most important objectives to seek are the ones in the national education program, whether it is necessary or not to use one or more textbooks during lessons. As long as objectives are accomplished, everything can be fine.

ZEBAZE Annie