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This study is based on research on secondary textbook and school library provision in Botswana, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Togo, as well as existing recent country reports on textbook provision and an extensive desk research. Considerable variations exist in Sub-Saharan African textbook requirements needed to meet secondary curriculum specifications just as significant differences exist between and within countries in regard to the average price of recommended textbooks. Some countries have no approved textbooks list. This World Bank Working Paper aims to discuss the textbook situation in Sub-Saharan Africa with a special focus on secondary textbook availability, cost and financing, distribution and publishing, and the status of school libraries. Its objective is to analyze the issues in secondary textbook and school library provision and to provide some options and strategies for improvement.

Public Expenditure Tracking Surveys (PETS) are a tried and tested methodology to identify delays in financial and in-kind transfers, leakages, and other inefficiencies in government programs. This guidebook aims to provide a starting point for civil society groups and other organizations interested in taking a closer look at government spending processes, both on a small and a larger scale. It is designed to lead users from the definition of the appropriate Public Expenditure Tracking Survey to be used, to the dissemination of its findings, with an emphasis on using evidence effectively to influence policy decisions at any level. Based on the experience of the World Bank in measuring and improving the effectiveness of service delivery, this approach helps empower citizens to keep service providers accountable through better information, communication, and engagement.

Introduction: Access to learning resources is not always affordable or equitable for students in higher education, and high-cost resources, which are commonly prescribed in course reading lists, create barriers for learning. Incorporating open access textbooks in reading lists responds to these issues. Academic librarians' expertise in curating, organizing, and disseminating knowledge coupled with a long-held passion for open access means that they are well positioned to drive partnerships with academic colleagues that prioritize the use and creation of open educational resources resulting in resources that are accessible, high quality, flexible, and appropriate to support learning in all modes (online, blended, face-to-face). Description of program/service: At La Trobe University Library, a commitment to openness provided a starting point for rethinking the role of the library as a publisher of open educational resources. The La Trobe eBureau is an Australian academic library publishing initiative designed to produce high-quality, peer-reviewed open textbooks by La Trobe University authors for La Trobe University courses. Situating the library as an open textbook publisher in partnership with academics improves the affordability of course resources, the student online learning experience, and the visibility of academic outputs and, importantly, has impact and value across higher education institutions. Next steps: This article shares reflections and challenges from the perspective of eBureau authors and library staff. The Library will continue to build on the success of eBureau collaborations and look more broadly to enact the future role of academic libraries in sustainable open textbook publishing within La Trobe University and across the higher education sector.

This thematic study discusses strategies for sustainable financing of secondary education in Sub-Saharan Africa. The report provides insight into options for financing the expansion of secondary education and training in Africa. This comes with a hefty price tag and points to the need to undertake fundamental reforms swiftly. This publication messages are clear: secondary education and training in Sub-Saharan Africa faces the challenge of improved efficiency and improved quality simultaneously with a fast growing demand. Sustainable financing will also require more effective public-private partnerships, because governments have many priorities and do not have a lot of room for significant additional public funding of post-primary systems. Educational reforms are needed to expand enrollment in secondary schooling in affordable ways. These reforms will contribute to poverty reduction by increasing the levels of knowledge, skills, and capability; diminishing inequalities in access that limit social mobility and skew income distribution; and contributing to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that relate to education.

隨著開放教育資源的應用發展，減緩了電子教育資源因價格昂貴而無法取得的問題，類似的議題亦發生在教育界的教科書方面。近年來，導入開放取用（Open Access, OA）模式至教科書已隱然成為一項研究議題。本文採取系統性評閱（Systematic Review, SR）為研究方法，選取23個個案及其相關灰色文獻為研究對象，試從內容提供者、聯合目錄平臺、授權方式、使用方式、提供模式、檔案格式、品質審查、營運模式，探討開放取用教科書（Open Access Textbook, OAT）相關議題（如聯合目錄平臺、內容客製化、永續經營與數位保存），希冀對圖書資訊界的電子資源資訊服務有所助益。

Books Right Here Right Now is a strategic project to radically change core text provision at the University of Manchester. In order to investigate new models for electronic textbook delivery, the project team are running a series of e-textbook pilots, providing textbooks directly to our students via the virtual learning environment. This paper focuses on how usage data and the views of our students and academic staff are underpinning the project in terms of acquisition models, negotiations with publishers and providing a new product to our students. Having detailed the project findings, the article concludes with the authors' thoughts on the changing environment of the e-textbook market and the various issues within the existing models of e-textbook provision, giving recommendations as to how academic libraries and publishers can help to shape a sustainable model for the UK.

Using government secondary school English language textbooks from Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan and Bangladesh, we conducted a quantitative content analysis in order to identify gender stereotypes in school education. In total, 21 categories of exclusion and quality of representation were used to study gender stereotypes. Our analysis confirms a pro-male bias in textbooks: the aggregate female share is 40.4% in textual and pictorial indicators combined. Female occupations are mostly traditional and less prestigious while the characters are predominantly introverted and passive in terms of personality traits. Women are also shown to be mostly involved in domestic and in-door activities while men have a higher presence in professional roles. Systematic underrepresentation of females is evident regardless of whether we look at the text or pictures. A cross-country analysis shows that the female share in picture content is only 35.2% in Malaysia and Bangladesh. Overall, the proportion of female to male characters (text and pictures combined) is balanced in Malaysia and Indonesia (44.4% and 44.1% respectively) while this share is only 24.4% and 37.3% in Pakistani and Bangladeshi textbooks respectively. The finding of underrepresentation of women in Pakistani textbooks, in terms of quality and quantity, is robust to the selection of province-, grade- and subject-specific textbooks, as well as the range and type of categories used.

The increasing application of generative artificial intelligence large language models (LLMs) in various fields, including dentistry, raises questions about their accuracy. This study aims to comparatively evaluate the answers provided by 4 LLMs, namely Bard (Google LLC), ChatGPT-3.5 and ChatGPT-4 (OpenAI), and Bing Chat (Microsoft Corp), to clinically relevant questions from the field of dentistry. The LLMs were queried with 20 open-type, clinical dentistry-related questions from different disciplines, developed by the respective faculty of the School of Dentistry, European University Cyprus. The LLMs' answers were graded 0 (minimum) to 10 (maximum) points against strong, traditionally collected scientific evidence, such as guidelines and consensus statements, using a rubric, as if they were examination questions posed to students, by 2 experienced faculty members. The scores were statistically compared to identify the best-performing model using the Friedman and Wilcoxon tests. Moreover, the evaluators were asked to provide a qualitative evaluation of the comprehensiveness, scientific accuracy, clarity, and relevance of the LLMs' answers. Overall, no statistically significant difference was detected between the scores given by the 2 evaluators; therefore, an average score was computed for every LLM. Although ChatGPT-4 statistically outperformed ChatGPT-3.5 (P=.008), Bing Chat (P=.049), and Bard (P=.045), all models occasionally exhibited inaccuracies, generality, outdated content, and a lack of source references. The evaluators noted instances where the LLMs delivered irrelevant information, vague answers, or information that was not fully accurate. This study demonstrates that although LLMs hold promising potential as an aid in the implementation of evidence-based dentistry, their current limitations can lead to potentially harmful health care decisions if not used judiciously. Therefore, these tools should not replace the dentist's critical thinking and in-depth understanding of the subject matter. Further research, clinical validation, and model improvements are necessary for these tools to be fully integrated into dental practice. Dental practitioners must be aware of the limitations of LLMs, as their imprudent use could potentially impact patient care. Regulatory measures should be established to oversee the use of these evolving technologies.

Digital natives have emerged, and nursing educator must develop digital textbook(DT)s the meet their information processing methods. But literature reviews on DTs remain insufficient. This scoping review aims to guide nursing educators on the future direction of DTs in undergraduate nursing education. This study includes research on DTs published in English after 2016, targeting undergraduate nursing students. Two reviewers independently screened titles, abstracts, and full texts for inclusion and extracted data from Medline (PubMed), Embase (Elsevier), Cochrane Library, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health (CINAHL), and IEEE Xplore up to May 27, 2024. Of the 3,978 articles identified, 7 met the inclusion criteria. The most common study design was experimental (n = 5), and the most frequent intervention type was interactive (n = 5). The most common nursing field was caring for medically complex/special needs patients (n = 5). However, no DTs were developed for social determinants of health or mental health or for working in underserved communities. Information was provided via mobile devices (n = 2) and QR codes, applications, or links (n = 2). Six studies measured all three outcome variables: knowledge, skills, and attitudes. The technology aspects included feedback, display functions, and other technical and educational features. The findings highlight the importance of usability, integration with the nursing education curriculum, and the development of clinically based DTs for future undergraduate nursing education. Thus, DTs in undergraduate nursing education, designed for the digital native generation, should be developed based on interactive intervention-type content that facilitates easy access to personalized information and timely learning. In addition, to comprehensively cover the educational domains essential for future nurses, DTs should not only address caring for medically complex/special needs patients but also include content on social determinants of health, mental health, and nursing in underserved communities.

In this reflective article that straddles the personal and the professional, the author shares his critical thoughts on the impact of the steady stream of discourse on the native speaker/nonnative speaker (NS/NNS) inequity in the field of TESOL. His contention is that more than a quarter century of the discoursal output has not in any significant way altered the ground reality of NNS subordination. Therefore, he further contends, it is legitimate to ask what the discourse has achieved, where it has fallen short, why it has fallen short, and what needs to be done. Drawing insights from the works of Gramsci (1971) on hegemony and subalternity, and Mignolo (2010) on decoloniality, the author characterizes the NNS community as a subaltern community and argues that, if it wishes to effectively disrupt the hegemonic power structure, the only option open to it is a decolonial option which demands result-oriented action, not just \"intellectual elaboration.\" Accordingly, he presents the contours of a five-point plan of action for the consideration of the subaltern community. He claims that only a collective, concerted, and coordinated set of actions carries the potential to shake the foundation of the hegemonic power structure and move the subaltern community forward.