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Delegates buy textbooks during the 2025 Kenya Primary School Heads Association conference in Mombasa on November 10, 2025.
Confusion has gripped public senior schools as Grade 10 learners and teachers try to kick off the new year with only a handful of textbooks.
Enquiries by Nation.Africa showed that many schools have received books for just a few subjects, leaving staff scrambling to organise classes and piece together pathway-specific timetables under the new Competency-Based Education (CBE) system.
The shortage of resources has forced schools to juggle incomplete schedules and improvise lessons, leaving both teachers and students uncertain about how the year will unfold.
“So far we have four textbooks and learners are not learning because there are not enough materials. How do you plan with four textbooks? We are trying to figure out how this will work because we are still struggling with this new curriculum timetable. The ministry is confused and we are confused,” said a principal in Nairobi, who spoke in confidence.
According to the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD), just about 50 per cent of the Sh11.8 million Grade 10 textbooks have been distributed nationwide, with counties such as Nairobi, Kiambu, and Mombasa among 17 that already received shipments, with 71.25 per cent being the printing status.
However, school administrators report receiving only two or three subject textbooks per school, creating confusion on how to implement lessons across the three CBE learning pathways.
Teachers and students who spoke to Nation said the delay had made it a challenge to organise classes and develop timetables under the CBE.
Delegates purchase textbooks from Oxford Publishers Stand during the 2025 Kenya Primary School Heads Association Annual Delegates Conference in Mombasa in this photo taken on November 12, 2025.
“There might be a few changes in the numbers of books per school because of the inter-school transfer of learners but we are going to rationalise that exercise to ensure that the students admitted in the school have two core books in their area of study,” Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba said, flagging off the Grade 10 textbooks at the English Point Press on Thursday.
The Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) contracted 21 publishers to print, package and distribute the Grade 10 course materials and literary texts to public senior schools across the country.
In November, the Kenya Publishers Association (KPA) raised the alarm, warning that delayed payments for already supplied textbooks could disrupt the start of the 2026 academic year.
The Ministry of Education released Sh5.6 billion to the KICD on January 6, 2026, to settle the debt with publishers, which is what set the ball rolling for the printing of Grade 10 books.
“Publishers have assured that they will be able to finish the distribution of Grade10 books. Currently, we have a printing status of 71 per cent and a distribution status of 49.5 per cent of all the learning areas,” said KICD Chief Executive Charles Ong'ondo.
KPA in November last year had observed operations within publishing houses were “severely constrained” and that the industry may be unable to print the textbooks needed for the transition to senior school unless the debt was cleared promptly.
“The financial injection we got allowed us to pay some of the debt as well as mobilised the printing of Grade 10 books, and believe the other balance will be coming soon,” said KPA chairman Kiarie Kamau.
The 21 publishing firms are expected to deliver11 million copies of 35 different textbook titles and literary works for Grade 10 by 31 January 2026.
“There is no reason for publishers to doubt our commitment to clearing the pending bill of Sh4.4 billion so that this partnership can proceed without any hiccups,” said Mr Ogamba.
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