|
Government asked to invest in Book
Industry
Accra, Nov 23 Ghanadot/GNA - Government was on Friday asked
to support the book publishing industry to ensure that the
industry does not collapse.
"The lack of full government support in the development of
books in the past was almost fatal to this industry in
Ghana. The current state of the publishing industry is a
direct result of lack of attention from government. Its
future will continue to be bleak if the neglect continues."
Mr. Elliot Agyare, President of the Ghana Book Publishers
Association was speaking in Accra on Friday at the Annual
General Meeting of the Ghana Book Publishers Association for
the year 2007/2008.
Mr. Agyare noted that the book industry should not be seen
as a peripheral sector, which must develop on its own
adding, "it should rather be seen as one of the core sectors
to be nurtured with great enthusiasm in the development
process"
He said it was unfortunate that the Ministry of Education
Science and Sports failed to invite the association during
discussions on the New Educational Reforms Policy.
"The book industry has not been engaged on any level, though
the new educational reforms was supposed to have started at
the beginning of September 2007.There was no engagement
during the drafting, the planning and implementation stages
even though new books are going to play a role in the new
educational reforms", he said.
Mr. Agyare called for the implementation of a strategic
programme to enable the industry to respond to the national
need for change in the educational system.
Issues discussed included the Auditor's report,
authorisation of council to appoint and fix remuneration for
Auditors, election of Ghana Book Development council members
as well as the registration and payment of dues by members.
The election of council members was suspended by a unanimous
decision to allow constitutional review whilst the mandate
of the current members of the Ghana Book Development Council
was extended to April next year.
GNA
|
