APPENDIX M :
DESIRABILITY OF EVOLVING A BETTER
 SYSTEM OF PREPARATION OF TEXT
 BOOKS TO AVOID THE EXISTING EVILS.
 

Experience of various States in the field of preparation of Textbooks for the School-children has shown that every one of the methods tried brought in various problems. The books got prepared under the supervision of the Education Departments have remained neglected for years together and inspite of various changes in the social structure and conceptions regarding social values, the books remained as they were when prepared. This necessitated some other system which ensures adjustments. The other system has been to leave the entire problem to public enterprise. Publishers in this case had more of material benefit as their goal than the quality of books. Further more, the system led to various evil practices.

The Secondary Education Commission has suggested a method to im- prove this often criticised affair of textbooks. It seems desirable that the system of prescription of text-books should ensure changes in the textbooks from time to time so as to help children to keep pace with the changing times. It is also necessary that the authors should not find room to write books for the publishers for a paltry sum. The publisher should not feel that the Government is competing with him. With these things in view the following method is suggested for consideration.

The Education Department with the help of committee would call for the names of persons who are willing to undertake to write books for the Department on certain given conditions and specifications (Such as:-No. of new words, Type of subjects, prose and poetry, matter of given number of pages etc.). In respect of every book that is to be prescribed a number of books should be got written say six. The Department would arrange to pay the authors at the prescribed rate whether the book is prescribed or not. Since the author has been paid he will have no occassion to try to influence persons so that a particular book may be prescribed. After this the Department under its control or supervision would get these books examined and if necessary get a book compiled out of the material thus received. When the manuscript gets ready the Department would call for tenders and on prescribed conditions release the manuscript in favour of a publisher who will nay a fixed percentage of royalty to the Department on number of copies sold every year. The book will remain inforce for a period of three or five years, The publisher will have to clear of his accounts before he is given permission to sell the books during the next academic year. The State Governments will have some revenue on this account, which will-be utilised for nation building activities.

As the number of books to be prescribed varies according to the number of classes, the number of languages, and a number of authors, all the publishers of the States could be encouraged equally. As has been feared in

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some quarters individual initiative, not private enterprise, in this field would be hurt by this system.

This step may also be taken advantage of to create a fund which may help research in the improvement of Text-Books.