"The five case studies on the cost-effectiveness of publishing educational materials in national and local African languages, published in this volume, were commissioned in 1996 on behalf of the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) by its Working Group on Books and Learning Materials. The UK’s Overseas Development Agency (ODA), which is the lead agency of the ADEA Working Group on Books and Learning Materials, organized two workshops on the topic of publishing books and other educational materials in African national languages, and commissioned these five case studies of the costs and benefits of educational materials in African languages." (Introduction, p.1);"The Association for the Development of Education in Africa Working Group on Books and Learning Materials organized two workshops held in Dakar in 1996 on the cost-effectiveness of publishing educational materials in African languages, and it also commissioned five case studies which are published in this volume. The objective of the workshop, and the case studies, was to gather information about the costs of publishing materials in national and local languages, to try to identify the benefits of these materials, both in schools and in adult literacy programmes and other non-formal education, and to review strategies to promote and encourage publication and use of educational materials from the point-of-view of cost-effectiveness. The five case studies cover The Gambia (Abdoulie Jobe), Madagascar (Louis Lai Seng), Namibia (Laurentius Davids), Senegal (Gaston Pierre Coly), and Zambia (Shadreck Hakalima). Each case study systematically examines the social, economic and educational context in each country: language policy and policies on publishing in national languages, costs of publishing educational materials, strategies for minimizing costs, and perceived benefits and effectiveness. An introductory chapter by the editor summarizes the main features and the methodology used, the problems encountered in the data gathering process, and the main findings and conclusions of the five case studies." (Hans M. Zell, Publishing, Books & Reading in Sub-Saharan Africa, 3d ed. 2008, nr. 1886)