Apropos a news item titled “Oxford Press manipulates intellectuals” printed in Daily Times on April 5, 2017, the Oxford University Press (OUP) has contended that the contents of the news item are false and deliberately hostile towards the OUP in Pakistan.
Ameena Saiyid, the managing director of Oxford University Press in Pakistan, has said that the news was published without verifying the facts with the organisation. For this, Daily Times apologises.
In a letter, the MD said that OUP Pakistan’s objective was advancement of education. “Its work is directed at publishing and distributing locally the best possible textbooks and reference books for schools, colleges and universities. OUP ensures that all resources are relevant to Pakistani students and cater for the Pakistan national curriculum, as well as reflecting the Pakistani environment and culture; OUP achieves this while benchmarked its resources against the high quality of writing, design, and illustration of books produced in the developed world.”
She said that the books published by OUP Pakistan cover all aspects of Pakistan: its history, politics, literature, economics, sports, culture, art; which it does through a wide range of affordable school text and library books. “These books disseminate information and research on Pakistan, projecting a soft and positive image of Pakistan internationally.”
She said that the OUP had been working for the promotion of Pakistani authors by ensuring that their intellectual property rights are protected and their books are not pirated. “This ensures that they get a fair return from the sale of their books. The objective is to make writing and authorship in Pakistan worthwhile, so authors can contribute to, and grow, the literary heritage of Pakistan. The origination and publication of OUP books in Pakistan provide the livelihood for, and learning and training opportunities to, thousands of people including OUP Pakistan’s employees, its printers, binders, paper manufacturers, editors, compositors, designers, illustrators and translators.”
Furthermore, she said that the OUP Pakistan organises workshops and seminars for school heads and teachers throughout Pakistan, to familiarise them with modern teaching methodology, innovative curriculum development and to improve the standards of learning and teaching in Pakistan. “[The] OUP Pakistan provides such training to about 50,000 attendees per annum,” she said.
In order to develop a reading culture and improve access to books, the OUP Pakistan operates a Mobile Bookshop Bus and several mobile libraries, which are parked in areas where people do not have ready access to books, she said. “A large number of students, parents, teachers and general readers benefit from these. To provide Pakistani children with role models, a series of books called Azeem (Great) Pakistanis was published in Urdu, including short biographies of personalities such as Jinnah, Fatima Jinnah, Liaquat Ali Khan, Abdus Sattar Edhi, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, and Akhtar Hamid Khan. Many more are under preparation and it is hoped that, by disseminating such literature widely to the young, OUP is making a contribution towards nation-building activities. OUP’s commitment to Pakistan and its economy is therefore manifest in the investments it has made in local operations throughout Pakistan, including its Head Office in Karachi from where all publishing activities are carried out to support our Pakistan activities.”
