It seems like every August, just before the new school year, copyright and the illegal copying of textbooks come up for heated and ultimately pointless debate.
It is the kind of issue on which you can find yourself agreeing with both sides. Yes, copyright should be observed and yes, poor students must have access to affordable books; you know it is wrong to copy but don't you also wonder that in a kinder gentler world the books would be free?
Keep in mind that the United States back in the 19th century justified its refusal to grant copyright protection to foreign authors by saying it was a necessity to meet the nation's needs for knowledge and enlightenment.
Developed countries have for decades been telling the developing world how vital education is as a means of combating poverty. In Guyana, millions in donor funding is spent on devising new approaches to nursery, primary and secondary education, huge contracts are signed to build and repair schools, teachers are being trained for the hinterland so as to give every child a chance. And in the end a student from a poor family is hampered by the simple need for a textbook that costs too much. And if a family can afford the books, the expense diverts funds from other household needs.
Guyana is not alone. A 1999 report by the Association for Development of Education in Africa (ADEA), a consortium of donors and developing countries, found that in several African countries, "uneven access to teaching and learning materials, inadequate provision of reading materials for the development of vital literacy skills and unacceptable pupil/book ratios continue to predominate. African publishers continue to be at a disadvantage in an economic context that tends to favour the import of books from abroad at the expense of those published in-country." Apart from education, probably the only developing world issue attracting as much donor funding as education, is HIV. And the one great stride in the battle against the pandemic have come in making the drugs to treat the disease widely affordable and even free.
This was only achieved after huge pressure was placed on pharmaceutical companies, firstly by activists and then by governments. It is now the case that the retroviral drugs sell in Europe for US$4 and US$6 a pill but cost 80 cents in developing countries. Here in Guyana HIV drugs are available free through the Ministry of Health via a treatment programme. It is a major achievement for a country with limited resources.
So where is this same massive effort and lobbying over textbooks? The lack of quality education is behind a knowledge gap that has serious implications for poor countries.
As the World Bank noted: "If knowledge gaps widen, the world will be split further, not just by disparities in capital and other resources, but by the disparity in knowledge. Increasingly, capital and other resources will flow to those countries with the stronger knowledge bases, reinforcing inequality..."
Guyana is creating a huge underclass of poorly educated youths with little skills that are well-near unemployable.
There is a real danger that stronger protection of international copyright rules as is being required under such regulation as TRIPS will deny poor people in poor countries full access to education when they are the ones who need it the most.
Now, the illegal and mass copying of textbooks, some of which are written by local educators, is certainly not the way to go. Firstly, it hurts local businessmen who legitimately import copyrighted textbooks; secondly there is no indication that this copying is some altruistic exercise as some might suggest. The fact that the books are cheaper does not somehow make the practice virtuous.
The right approach should be for the government to demand certain concessions from overseas publishers. These might include - just as it does with HIV drugs - supplying the books at sharply reduced prices. This is already being done by some publishing houses but it is not clear that the difference in prices is sufficient. They could also arrange for local printers to publish books under licence or, vice versa, contract established publishers to print locally generated material at concessionary rates.
There have been some developments in this direction an example being in Gambia where books designed by local educators were printed in Hong Kong by Macmillan Education. After three years 400,000 pupils' and teachers' books had been published and distributed to schools, at a cost of US$900,000 loaned by the World Bank. Pupils are required to pay an annual fee of between US$2 and US$15 to use the books which goes towards replacement copies as well as to meet the demand of extra pupils.
There are options here that might now seem unrealistic but the obstacles are not insurmountable as the great progress in providing inexpensive HIV treatment has demonstrated. Books, just like drugs, are remedies. They combat ignorance and help give poor children the chance of a better life.
Come next August, let us not have another debate. Guyana and other developing countries should be able to observe copyright laws and enable universal access to textbooks.