There’s no textbooks crisis, publishers say
:Parents wait to be served at Eden Bookshop in Mombasa on Saturday while purchasing books ahead of the new term. Booksellers, parents, and publishers have expressed concern over the acute shortage of text books.
What you need to know:
- The textbooks for Grade 9 learners are in the final stages of distribution to public schools, in line with the government policy of buying one textbook for each learner in each subject, said Kenya Publishers Association (KPA)Chairperson Kiarie Kamau.
Publishers have attributed delays in the distribution of competency-based curriculum (CBC) textbooks to the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD), even as it allayed concerns over shortage of Grade 9 books.
The textbooks for Grade 9 learners are in the final stages of distribution to public schools, in line with the government policy of buying one textbook for each learner in each subject, said Kenya Publishers Association (KPA)Chairperson Kiarie Kamau.
He said that the books were already in bookshops for parents with learners in private schools, even as he warned against buying books from the streets as they are likely to be counterfeit.
Publishers developed the books, submitted them to the institute for evaluation, and some the approved books are undergoing final corrections before they are released, Mr Kamau explained.
The books for grades 5 and 6 will be available by the end of January while for grades 7 and 8 will be available by the end of February. However, he said, more than 80 per cent of the Grade 9 textbooks have been delivered to schools, and the remaining will be in schools by January 13.
Following the recommendations of the Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms, the KICD did rationalisation of some learning areas.
“Upon this rationalisation, KICD developed and issued revised curriculum designs to publishers. The Institute further advised publishers to develop and release rationalised books,” said Mr Kiarie.
In spite of the delays occasioned by the rationalisation, KPA said, “there are still sufficient relevant textbooks in circulation”.
Days before the reopening of schools, parents, teachers and other education stakeholders were yet to know which coursebooks to buy or use, blaming KICD for not providing direction.
