Mission of the Project : Given the seriousness of the paucity of reading and learning materials in Nigeria’s higher educational institutions, the TETFund intervention is designed as a package of unique, targeted actions, activities and events that will restore research and academic publishing within the higher education sector. In this context, the current book development initiative is different from previous ones. Whereas, in the past efforts were geared towards book procurement, the present initiative is aimed at encouraging the production and use of internally produced books and journals. It is expected that nurturing the culture of authorship and the production of indigenous books in Nigeria will safeguard national pride as well as ensure the availability of relevant books that grow out of the local environment and reflect familiar realities and experiences. It is one way of motivating students to read and to foster sustainability in book development. While it is true that foreign books are helpful, an indigenous book industry is needed to provide opportunities for the nation’s writers, thinkers and artists.
Aim and Objectives of the Project : The resuscitation of quality research and capacity for academic publishing in Nigeria’s higher educational institutions is at the core of the TETFund Book Development Project. The project is designed to reactivate and nurture research and the publication of academic books and journals in hard and eforms, thereby empowering tertiary institutions to benefit from, and contribute to, knowledge production nationally and globally. The specific objectives of the project include the following: (i) To create the capacity and provide outlets for the production of quality academic manuscripts, using state of the art facilities, inside the higher institutions of learning; (ii) To design, construct and equip model APCs in selected institutions and link their activities to selected University Printing Press which will act as publishers for the project; (iii) To restore and enhance the capacity of Nigerian tertiary educational institutions and professional bodies to produce and circulate quality academic books, journals and other learning materials; (iv) To coordinate and integrate existing skills and resources in and outside the institutions, for more effective academic publishing; and (v) To strengthen the institutional capacity for quality assurance and control in academic publishing through capacity building activities, training and linkages.
Production of Books : The first phase of the present intervention is directed at the production of basic textbooks written by Nigerian academics for universities, polytechnics and colleges of education and specialized books in various subject areas. The book production component will accomplish; specialized books in various subject areas; and basic textbooks in the specialized disciplines of Medicine and Pharmacy, Engineering and Technology, Arts, Social and Management Sciences, Education, Agriculture, Physical and Life Sciences, Law, Veterinary Medicine and General Studies. Twenty (20) books covering various disciplines from Medicine, Pharmacy, Engineering and Agriculture to the Arts and Humanities produced under the first phase of the intervention were presented th to the Nigerian public in Abuja on 13 November, 2014 and have been distributed free to all Nigerian public tertiary education institutions.
Acknowledgement of TETFund : All manuscripts published under the TETFund Book Development Project must have the TETFUND LOGO and the imprint “TETFUND SUPPORTED” conspicuously shown on their front and back covers.
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