The GBPA's role is to develop textbooks when the syllabus is provided and presented to them by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA) for evaluation; and the process of developing books and distributing them takes a period of 90 to 150 days.

Speaking at a media briefing on Thursday Mr Elliot Agyare, President of GBPA, said the GBPA's concern is with the inability to appreciate the role textbook procurement plays in national development at the policy level as all the educational institutions have been told to ignore the old supplementary textbooks.

Mr Agyare said the new directive to schools "not to buy the books of the old curriculum" has not helped the situation as book sellers are now faced with a new demand during their best period for book sales- when a new academic year begins.

He said in the past, an allowance period for proposal submissions by publishers was extended to them to enable them take their time with the development process adding that the implementation of the new curriculum should have been delayed to enable members to clear their old stock and at the same time develop products to meet the new demand.

Mr Agyare said about GH¢15 million worth of supplementary books are currently in their warehouses due to the emerging situation and called for government's intervention to alleviate their burden.

He expressed the hope that the NaCCA would overcome existing challenges and help in the selection of the appropriate books to advance the teaching and learning process in the country.

Even though teachers have been provided with guidelines and a teacher's pack to mitigate the absence of textbooks in the classrooms for the new academic year, efforts should be made to encourage the use of the old supplementary textbooks for back-ups as it enhances the learning process, Mr Agyare said.