The text has since been divided into two areas in Psychology of Learning and Child/Adolescent Psychology. The first part is completed and already in use at the Campus while a complete text is being revised for use in January 2003.

The initiative by Dr Parasram Thakur, Director, University of Guyana Berbice Campus, comes in the wake of numerous complaints over the urgent need for adequate and relevant text books in Guyana at all levels including primary, secondary and university.

Dr Thakur said many of the textbooks used, especially at tertiary level, are imported from North America because of a lack of texts here. Local writers are also few and research resources and opportunities are limited.

He explained that imported reading materials in Social Sciences have little or no relevance to Guyana, the Caribbean or the Third World and translatabilty of such data to Guyana and the Caribbean is not always feasible.

The professor noted that in one course, the average age of textbooks at the University is 28 years and outdated.

Dr Thakur’s text contains 220 pages with 14 chapters on topics including Educational Research, Theories of Learning, Accountability in Education, Motivation in Learning, Discipline in Classrooms, Memory and Learning, Educational Testing, Devising and Using Educational Objectives, among others.

The content covered has been researched to incorporate the most recent data available and contains more educational relevance.

Dr Thakur, an author of several books, said the local production will receive no royalty and the aim is to make it available and affordable to students.

He said draft copies have been sent to various teachers-training institutions in Guyana, the University of Guyana and Universities at St Augustine, Trinidad; Cave Hill, Barbados and Mona, Jamaica, for their comments.