Government to supply schools with rationalized textbooks in January

Learners in pre-primary, primary and junior school will have new textbooks in January 2025, according to the Kenya Publishers Association (KPA).

At the same time, KPA chairman Kamau Kiarie said the main supply of textbooks for Grade 9 (Junior Secondary) will be between October and December 2024.

“These were already evaluated by the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) and results were released to the publishers. As soon as the process of signing contracts is finalised, publishers will embark on printing and distribution of the same, ahead of First Term in January 2025,” said Mr Kiarie on Sunday.

The Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) was rolled out in 2019 and has faced various challenges, ranging from distribution of textbooks to schools to complaints about the quality of the learning materials.

Mr Kiarie, who spoke to the media ahead of the Nairobi International Book Fair, said the new books that were developed following the guidelines drawn by Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms (PWPER) will also be supplied.

PWPER recommended the rationalisation of the number of learning areas to reduce overload, overlaps and gaps.

“This process of rationalisation involved a reduction of learning areas and content, through the integration of existing learning areas,” said Mr Kiarie, adding that the process was undertaken by KICD.

In Lower Primary, the learning areas have been reduced from 8 to 7; in Upper Primary, they have been reduced from 11 to 8; while in Junior Secondary the subjects were reduced from 14 to 9.
“As such, publishers developed books on the rationalised curriculum designs,” Mr Kiarie said.

In a break from the past, textbooks for English language activities and Kiswahili language activities shall be evaluated for the open market only.

Unlike primary school, where pupils learn by subject, junior school has learning areas, nine in all, with a total of 40 lessons per week.

These are English, Kiswahili, Mathematics and Social Studies as well as Agriculture, Life Skills Education, Business Studies, Sports and Physical Education as core subjects.

Religious Education is also a core subject, with learners studying either Christian Religious Education, Islamic Religious Education or Hindu Religious Education.

Learners are also taught integrated science, health education and pre-technical and pre-vocational education as core subjects.

Elective subjects are Visual Arts, Performing Arts, Home Science, Computer Science, Foreign Language (German, French, Arabic, Chinese or Mandarin), Local Language and Kenyan Sign Language.

Pre-technical subjects prepare students for the labour market by providing the technical skills and knowledge required to perform specific tasks.

In July, the piloting of the Grade 9 final assessment known as the Kenya Junior School Education Assessment (KJSEA) was conducted in 235 schools across all 47 counties.

The Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) used the current Grade 8 learners for the piloting of the transition assessment.

Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet), acting Secretary-General Moses Nthurima said at the time that the government is not prepared for Grade 9.

He wondered if, between July and January next year, the government would have completed the construction of facilities to cater to Grade 9 learners.

“Why can’t the learners transition to our secondary schools which have adequate facilities like classrooms and laboratories? Additionally, next year, there will be no Form One classes and the classrooms will be empty. They should accommodate Grade Nine,” the union boss said then.

At the same time, KPA said the industry was still grappling with the menace of piracy especially in digital products which are sold at a throwaway price via social media.

They also raised the issue of VAT on books which stands at 16 per cent, this tax only serves to make books more expensive hence unaffordable to many.

“We therefore call upon the government to scrap VAT on books as a way of making knowledge affordable to all, hence promoting lifelong learning and growing the knowledge economy.”