The Role of the Headteacher
The Headteacher shall manage the textbooks allocated to his/her school by ensuring that:
- a Textbook Management Committee, of about four staff members is established in Grade A and B schools.
- all textbooks are inventorised. Refer to School Records and Documents
- all books are stamped with the school's stamp
- books are allocated to classes for use during class teaching
- parents sign the Agreement Form which shall be kept in a secured file (See Appendix 6)
- parents and learners take responsibility for the care and return of textbooks
- class teachers monitor the care of the books issued to individual learners
- the Committee monitors the use of class sets by the teachers with an appropriate instrument
- class teachers conduct termly inspection of books allocated to learners
- class teachers, librarian and parents are taught the basics of book care and repairs through training.
While the Ministry of Education is of the view that a textbook has a life span of 3 - 4 years, teachers must be encouraged to be involved with their charges in the maintenance of books during the craft classes. Additionally, special attention must be paid to the section of the Language Curriculum "Use and Care of Books". To account for books received schools are guided by the Ministry's document entitled "School Records and Documents".
