This let­ter is in­tend­ed to set the new Ed­u­ca­tion Min­is­ter straight about the text­book re­view­ing process. I am a text­book re­view­er for the lan­guage sub­jects in sec­ondary schools. I have ten years teach­ing ex­pe­ri­ence and was in­ter­viewed and se­lect­ed to at­tend train­ing in text­book re­view­ing to get this post (to re­view a text­book). When au­thors sub­mit their books for con­sid­er­a­tion to this of­fice, about five teach­ers ex­am­ine and re­view the same book on their own and then meet to dis­cuss the text. The book must cov­er most top­ics of the syl­labus and be suit­able for use in class–if it is to be cho­sen.

This of­fice was set up some years ago by the pre­vi­ous gov­ern­ment to rule out bias and favouritism to any par­tic­u­lar au­thor. So please, Ed­u­ca­tion Min­is­ter Tim Gopeesingh, get your facts straight and do not make bold state­ments about a min­istry you were shoved in­to and know noth­ing about. Every ef­fort is giv­en for all au­thors to get a fair chance for their books to be used in class­rooms. I have worked with oth­ers so I should know. Let these new­com­ers to gov­ern­ment re­alise that the elec­tion cam­paign is over–stop the com­plain­ing!

A Smith

Text­book re­view­er