AT-KABUL: The Ministry of Education (MoE) awarded the contract for printing of 2.2 million textbooks to several local publishing houses.
The ministry signed the contract with some 11 local publishing houses. The Minister of Education, Assadullah Hanif Balkhi, representatives of Denmark Embassy, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) were also present on the occasion.
Balkhi said that they currently need 42 million textbooks out of which the ministry has decided to print seven million books. “Unfortunately, local publishing houses don’t have enough capacity to publish all the seven million books,” he added.
He said that this a test for local publishing houses to prove their capacity. According to the contract, the publishing houses should print the books within 20 days. He added that instead of awarding the contract through open bidding, the ministry granted the contract to only local publishing houses. “This move is aimed at enhancing the capacity of local publishing houses,” he went on as saying.
The Minister of Education appreciated the international community for its support to education sector.