Publication: Read at Home: Guidance Note on the Production of Reading Materials
Date
2021-10
ISSN
Published
2021-10
Author(s)
World Bank
Abstract
Access to books (textbooks, teacher’s
guides, and materials for reading practice) is key to
addressing learning poverty. Children need to be exposed to
sufficient and appropriate text, and they need to be
afforded the time and opportunity to practice reading in
school and at home. Appropriate design of reading books will
facilitate learning, support instruction, and promote
independent learning. This guidance note focuses on
straightforward, standard approaches that World Bank teams
and clients can use to increase the usefulness and
durability and decrease the costs of books in education
programs. The first section describes appropriate font types
and sizes based on script and grade level, as well as best
practices for letter and word spacing. The physical
characteristics of books determine printing costs and
durability to a large degree, and so the second section
discusses these, with a focus on paper and binding. Printing
methods and printer selection are critical for book quality
and on-time delivery and so the third section covers
printing methods and printer selection. Finishing is the
last step in book production and is covered in fourth
section and packaging is covered in the fifth section. The
note ends with a short list of key recommendations.
Citation
“World Bank. 2021. Read at Home: Guidance Note on the Production of Reading Materials. © Washington, DC. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/37579 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Report Series
Report Series
Other publications in this report series
-
PublicationComparing European and U.S. Securities Regulations : MiFID versus Corresponding U.S. Regulations(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2010)The purpose of this paper is to compare the European Union (EU) and United States (U.S.) securities regulations. In November 2007, the market in financial instruments directive 2004/39/EC (MiFID) came into force in the EU, and brought about deep changes in the market infrastructure. The same year regulations National Market System (NMS) in the U.S. was fully enacted and reformed equities markets. This study compares MiFID with the corresponding U.S. regulations, and primarily focuses on the regulatory and supervisory framework, trading venues, and the provision of investment services. Implementation of the rules enforcement and right to redress are beyond the scope of this paper. Likewise, the paper does not intend to judge the effectiveness of the two regulatory systems.
-
PublicationLegal Frameworks for Tertiary Education in Sub-Saharan Africa : The Quest for Institutional Responsiveness(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2009)Prospects for future economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa will depend in significant measure on the continent's capacity to cultivate the higher order skills and expertise needed to acquire knowledge and utilize it to advance economic and social development. Recognition of this reality is leading policy makers and politicians across the region to renew their attention to the role that tertiary education can play in undergirding knowledge-based strategies for growth and competitiveness. As this awareness has grown, fuller understanding of the relationship between human capital formation and economic growth, the types of tertiary education policies that can nurture this relationship, and the national-level conditions that shape the possibilities for success in these endeavors has been pursued by the World Bank through a series of analytical studies. This analytical work culminated in 2008 with the completion of the region's flagship report entitled accelerating catch-up: tertiary education for growth in Sub-Saharan Africa. This report examined the human resource implications of more knowledge-intensive strategies for growth in Africa within the context of globalize competition and argued the need for more conscious management of education policies in order to align education sector outputs, especially postsecondary graduates and research, with national strategies for economic growth and poverty alleviation. In doing so, the report issued a clear call for more autonomous, flexible, and responsive institutions of tertiary education capable of adjusting their missions and programs to fast-paced changes in the technologies, economic relations, and trade regimes that can spell the difference between a nation's competitiveness and stagnation within the global economic arena. It also highlighted the critical role of governance arrangements at the level of tertiary education systems as well as individual tertiary institutions in determining capabilities for flexibility and responsiveness that enable timely adaptation to change.
-
PublicationRegulation by Contract : A New Way to Privatize Electricity Distribution?(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2003-09)In with the performance of recently privatized electricity distribution companies. Governments complain that tariffs have increased without visible improvements in service. Investors contend that they have not earned reasonable returns on their investments. Both sides often express dissatisfaction with the new independent regulatory commissions established at the time of privatization. In particular, investors argue that the commissions have not lived up to their commitments and almost always side with consumer interests. Some investors claim that the design of the new regulatory system in many developing and transition economies is fundamentally flawed. They often recommend that independent regulatory commissions be supplemented or replaced by more explicit "regulation by contract." This paper examines whether regulation by contract or a combination of regulation by contract and regulatory independence would provide a better regulatory system for developing countries that wish to privatize some or all of their distribution systems. The paper: Describes the key characteristics of regulation by contract as it has been implemented in several developing countries Focuses on how regulatory contracts in several countries handle certain key issues (pass-through of power-purchase costs, foreign exchange fluctuations, loss reduction and the obligation to serve) Describes the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches for dealing with disputes that inevitably arise in the application of regulatory contracts Compares and contrasts some recent experiences of distribution entities in Latin America and India. Examines some of Brazil's recent problems that may have arisen because Brazil adopted a flawed variant of regulation by contract. The paper concludes with a discussion of some lessons that can be learned from the experience of several countries.
-
PublicationQuasi-Fiscal Activities, Hidden Government Subsidies, and Fiscal Adjustment in Armenia(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2003-09)This paper aims to develop a detailed analysis of quasi-fiscal deficits and subsidies, and their impact on Armenia's fiscal performance in the second part of the 1990s. Based on the flow-of-funds approach, we estimate the magnitude of the quasi-fiscal deficits and the incidence of quasi-fiscal subsidies in Armenia, as well as identify main recipients and sources of quasi-fiscal financing. The principal finding of the paper is that while quasi-fiscal deficits in Armenia remain considerable, their recent decline has been a major contributing factor to Armenia's fiscal adjustment. The paper also shows that households remain a major ultimate recipient of quasi-fiscal subsidies. Thus, the main distortive impact of quasi-fiscal subsidies is on social policy and equity, rather than on enterprise restructuring and private sector performance. Still, the current level of public sector deficit in Armenia remains too high, which requires an additional adjustment effort. The paper suggests that to make fiscal adjustment sustainable a further strengthening of financial control, accounting and reporting in the public sector is needed, including through better Government monitoring of debts and other liabilities accumulated by the large state enterprises and phasing out the phenomenon of implicit (hidden subsidies), such as debt-for-equity swaps. The proposed approach to the analysis of quasi-fiscal deficits and subsidies, based on estimates of accumulated debts in the public sector and its main parts, seems to be fully applicable to other economies in transition, especially to those low-income CIS countries, which are heavily dependent on energy imports.
-
PublicationBroadcasting and Development : Options for the World Bank(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2003-09)Broadcasting can have a significant part to play in the fight to reduce global poverty. At least 77 percent of the world's population is estimated to be within easy access of broadcast technology (compared to perhaps 4 percent for the Internet), broadcast services are easily accessible by the illiterate and those that speak minority languages. Broadcast operations have been proven sustainable even in low income rural areas. They can play an important role in information transfer (conveying crop prices and employment opportunities, for example). They have played an important role in a range of development projects-including interactive radio instruction, where they have been found to be a highly cost effective intervention. Access to broadcast technologies also has been found to correlate with improved access to government services. Convergence of information and communications technologies (ICT) is allowing broadcast services to be provided over telecommunications networks and Internet services to use broadcast systems. Differentiating broadcast and telecommunications is becoming increasingly anachronistic, many countries are already moving towards a model of convergence regulation that encompasses both sub-sectors. For the World Bank Group to be involved in telecommunications while eschewing broadcast will frequently involve forcing our client countries into suboptimal policy and regulatory solutions. Further, the use of broadcast to provide Internet services is a potential development opportunity that should not be ignored by the Bank in its operations.