Cambridge Press bids to make books more affordable

The Cambridge University Press (CUP), the oldest publishing house in the world has set up an office in Nigeria with a quest to make its books affordable to the 10 million estimated out-of-school children in Nigeria. The CUP is working closely with Nigerian authorities and leading education professionals to improve this situation. 

The CUP will be offering its expertise by partnering with local authors and curriculum experts to develop a bespoke series of high quality education materials for the Nigerian market based on the approved Nigerian curricula. In this regards, CUP on May 4, 2016 at the Oriental Hotel, Lagos brought together education stakeholders of primary, secondary schools, education officials at the State and Federal Government levels to chat the way forward. 

Mrs Oby Ezekwesilli, former Minister of Education was the Guest Speaker at the event while Professor Ismail Junaidu, the Executive Secretary Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council, was the Guest of Honour. Ezekwesilli who spoke on challenges of providing quality education for all Nigerian children, lamented that those incharge of education, lack workable policies.

The Managing Director for Education at Cambridge University Press, Mr Rod Smith said that CUP will be producing English language and science (physics, chemistry, biology) books (based on the Nigerian curriculum) at very competitive costs for the Nigerian school system.

Experience in publishing According to him, with over 450 years of experience in publishing, Cambridge University Press are well placed to provide opportunities for Nigerian students to access the best teaching resources – which is key to improving the level of attainment across the whole education spectrum, from primary to higher levels.

He said: ‘Cambridge has decades of experience supporting Ministries of Education all over the world with training and quality control for the development of their own learning and assessment materials which is why we are so confident that through working collaboratively with ministers, educators, teachers and students alike, we can make a positive impact.’

The entry of the CUP into the Nigerian market means its teaching and learning materials will be produced locally and will become widely available in Nigeria at affordable costs. Covering the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council’s (NERDC) curriculum, the Cambridge resources will be accessible and affordable to all learners at all levels from Primary 1 – Senior Secondary 3 across a range of subjects.

He said: “The aim of this programme is to give every learner in Nigeria the opportunity to share in and benefit from the gold-standard tradition and contemporary relevance of the University of Cambridge.”