Publishers demand Sh900m for text books

Text book publishers have claimed that the government owes them Sh900 million accrued from supplying books to public schools. The Kenya Publishers Association (KPA) yesterday said the accumulated debt dates back to book supplies made in January, leaving publishing companies and bookshops grappling with cash flow problems.

State-sponsored schools are yet to receive free education funds for third term and have only received partial allocations for term one and two.

KPA – the publishing industry lobby – is now proposing that the State aligns the disbursement of funds to schools’ text book supply cycle and allow county governments to take charge of school books procurement. “The government owes us Sh900 million which has accrued since January. This is hurting our businesses,” said KPA chairman Lawrence Njagi.

“We propose early release of funds to schools and that county governments take charge of text book supply and audit because they are better placed to know where the need is,” said Mr Njagi who is also the managing director of Mountain Top Publishers.

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However, the booksellers said they cannot cut supplies to public schools given that the government is the biggest buyer of textbooks.

The government pays fees for more than 10 million pupils in primary schools and about 2.1 million students in secondary schools. Primary school pupils are allocated Sh1,400 each by the government while secondary students get a grant of Sh10,265 per student.

READ: Publishers lock horns with ministry in textbooks dispute

A total of Sh670 is budgeted for each primary school pupil to cater for textbooks, instruction materials and facilitation of internal examinations.

The introduction of value added tax (VAT) on text books in September last year has also hit publishers hard, as schools have been forced to scale down purchases to accommodate the 16 per cent levy.