The Ministry of Education is currently distributing grade 9 textbooks and those for rationalised learning areas for grades 1 to 6 to all public schools in an effort to maintain their policy of one learner, one textbook ratio.
Education Cabinet Secretary (CS) Julius Ogamba said that the Curriculum Support Materials are an essential component in any learning environment as they comprise of the core tools used to assist learners in acquiring the intended knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to develop the required competences.
“The distribution exercise of textbooks to schools has been an annual event since the inception of the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC). The Ministry of Education has diligently over the years distributed the CBC textbooks for learners in grades 1 to 8 to ensure that the policy of one-to-one books for every learner is met,” said Ogamba.
Speaking on Wednesday during the unveiling of the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) strategic plan, Ogamba assured of the government’s commitment to ensuring that all learners have adequate teaching and learning materials.
The CS explained that upon the review of the curriculum for the third grades early this year, the Ministry of Education embarked on the revision of books to ensure they are all well aligned to the curriculum designs.
“It is therefore the responsibility of the Ministry to ensure and to oversee the distribution of the revised books to learners in the entire country. This practice will be carried out annually and extended to all grades, including the senior school level,” he said.
The CS went on to give an insight into how the Kenyan government is committed to providing accessible, quality, and relevant educational training to all its citizens, and this is in line with the various policies on education and training, noting that it is through this spirit that the country embarked on a journey to reform the curriculum.
“The curriculum reforms are being undertaken within the national legislation informed by Article 53 of the Constitution, which recognises free and compulsory basic education as a right of every child,” said Ogamba.
Ogamba highlighted that the ministry of education is committed to ensuring that time and resources are available to the students and the teachers in their respective schools, timelines are met, and timely results are achieved.
He noted that the Ministry of Education is procuring a total of one million copies of learners’s books and 24,000 copies of teachers’ guides for each learning area in grade nine.
The CS directed that schools that may have variances in the number of books delivered to them should report to the Sub-County Education Office.
State Department for Basic Education Principal Secretary Dr. Belio Kipsang said that the ministry of education is witnessing a critical milestone as they prepare children to move to the next level of learning in grade 9.
“It is also a time that we look back with a lot of pride and say that now we have completed the first cycle, which is the junior school cycle,” said the PS.
Dr. Kipsang noted that the Ministry of Education looks forward to this particular cohort of learners transiting to grade 9, saying that they will be equipped with all the necessary materials that are required in terms of course books and the core textbooks.
Dr. Kipsang appreciated all the people who are involved in the exercise, starting with the panellists and all the teachers that took part in going through the books to ensure that they meet the threshold that learners require in terms of content, quality, and standards that are required at that particular level.
“I would also want to most sincerely thank KICD for the continued diligence that they put into this particular work to ensure that these textbooks are available in a way that gives teachers and learners a variety, and that is why for every class we give two books from two different publishers,” Dr. Kipsang added.
By Patience Mabonga
