Cabinet awards contracts for primary school texts

KINGSTON — Cabinet has approved three contracts for the procurement and distribution of textbooks and workbooks to 815 primary, all-age, primary and junior high schools across the island.

Minister with responsibility for Information, Telecommunications and Special Projects, Hon. Daryl Vaz, made the disclosure at yesterday's post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House.

An award of $74 million (£521,600) was made to Pearson Education Limited to supply and distribute Grades One to Six primary mathematics workbooks, while Macmillan Distribution Limited will be supplying and distributing Grades One to Three Primary Integrated Studies Textbooks and Workbooks 2011, at a cost of $283 million (£1,993,690).

Carlong Publishers (Caribbean) Limited will supply and distribute grades four and six social studies and science textbooks for a sum of $214,029,000.

The contracts were awarded on the recommendations of the National Contracts Commission and the Infrastructure Subcommittee.

By CHRIS PATTERSON, JIS Reporter