Ministry releases new list of set books for schools to be studied from April 2022

Form Three students will begin studying new English literature and Kiswahili fasihi set books from April.

This follows approval of the books by the Ministry of Education, which has also informed secondary school principals of the development.

Basic Education PS Julius Jwan in a circular to all secondary school heads said the books will be examined for the next five years.

“This is to inform you that the final phase of change of set books for literature in English and fasihi ya Kiswahili for secondary schools for the period 2022-2026 has been finalised,” said Dr Jwan in the circular signed by the direct of quality assurance and standards, Dr Mary Gakuru.

The current set books have been used in schools since 2017.

The new compulsory set book for literature in English will beFathers of Nations by Paul B. Vitta published by the Oxford University Press while the play will be The Samaritan taken from Play From the Rest of the World by John Lara and published by the Kenya Literature Bureau.

The new set books will replace The Blossoms of the Savannah by Henry Ole Kulet and the A Doll’s House written by Henry Ibsen.

English literature optional set books are the novel An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro and published by Longhorn Publishers, an anthology of short stories,  A silence song and other stories edited by Godwin Siundu and the optional play, A parliament of Owls by Adipo Sidang published by the East African Educational Publishers.

The optional books will replace The Pearl by John Steinbeck, The Memories we Lost by Chris Wanjala published by Moran (East Africa) publishers and The Inheritance by David Mulwa published by the Longhorn publishers.

For Fasihi ya Kiswahili, the new compulsory set books include Bembea by Dr Timothy Moriasi published by Access Publishers, short stories will be Mapambazuko ya Machweo na Hadithi Nyingine published by Mountaintop publishers while compulsory play will be Nguu za Jadi by Prof Clara Momanyi published by Queenex publishers.

The new set books are replacing the Kigogo by Pauline Kea Kyovi published by Story Moja, Tumbo Lisiloshiba na Hadithi Nyingine by Alfa Chokocho na Dumu Kayanda published by Longhon Publishers and optional play Chozi la Heri by Assumpta K. Matei published by One Planet.

Schools will start handling the compulsory novels and short stories set books from April to 2026, while the compulsory play and optional play set books will commence in January 2023 to 2026.

“The commencing and lapsing year implies that the Form Three class of the given year are the first and last to study the particular book respectively,” said Dr Jwan.

The PS said the books were all approved by the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) last year.

The books also have a security tag which when scratched reveals a 16 digit number.

“When the number is send by SMS to 22,776, you will receive a message confirming whether the copy is genuine or pirated. This is an important security measures aimed at ensuring that schools, parents and students have genuine copies with correct content,” said Dr Jwan.

IN SUMMARY

A: (i) Literature in English — Compulsory Set Books

A: (ii) Literature in English — Optional Set Books

B: Fasihi ya Kiswahili — Compulsory Set Books