E-book content review to be completed by September

Curriculum officers in the Ministry of Education are finalising the revision of the content to be loaded on the electronic textbook devices which were introduced in the secondary school system last year.
Clare Browne, director of education, stated that while students had access to the devices over a year ago, educators within the school system were working behind the scenes along with FortunaPix, a specialised software company from India, to write the text for the devices using the national curriculum and the syllabus provided by the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) as a guide.
So far, the education officials have reviewed the content for Biology, Economics, Food and Nutrition, Office Administration, Principles of Accounts, Principles of Business, Electronic Document Preparation and Management, Integrated Science, French, Spanish and Family Resource Management.
The process is expected to be completed in time for the new school year.
“We want to make sure that the Antiguan context is captured in those books. We are talking about e-books and we want to make sure that the necessary videos are in those books and that they bring life to classrooms.
“We want to make sure that education makes sense, people must be able to relate. The revision will include making sure the language is right and ensuring that we have what we asked for on the devices,” Browne said.
The news of the revision process comes weeks after President of the Antigua and Barbuda Union of Teachers (A&BUT) Ashworth Azillle, warned that the government initiative is at risk of becoming a colossal failure if changes are not made immediately.
The educator stated that less than 90 percent of students on the island were taking the devices to school, and he also claimed that education officials rushed to introduce the programme without adhering to a warning that a comprehensive plan was necessary before implementing any policy.
The E-book programme, introduced in 2017, is intended to cut the cost associated with purchasing the physical books through the Board of Education (BoE). However, since it was launched, several questions have been asked about the quality of the content that was placed on the e-platform and how it would be implemented.
(More in today’s Daily Observer)