Publishers lock horns with ministry in textbooks dispute

What you need to know:

The US and the UK recently started supplying text books for free to lower primary school pupils but the Kenya Publishers Association (KPA) says vetting was not done.
KPA has asked Education secretary Jacob Kaimenyi to freeze any further distribution of the text books.

Publishers have threatened to sue the Ministry of Education for abetting violation of textbook laws by two foreign agencies, distorting the Sh1.2 billion market for lower primary school textbooks.

The US and the UK recently started supplying text books for free to lower primary school pupils but the Kenya Publishers Association (KPA) says vetting was not done.

KPA chairman Lawrence Njagi said that they wrote a letter last Friday to Education secretary Jacob Kaimenyi asking him to freeze any further distribution of the text books.

“We have not heard anything from him. We now want to say that within the next 14 days we will be taking legal action to stop any further distribution of the books,” Mr Njagi said Wednesday during a media breakfast in Nairobi.

The publishers accused the government, USAid and UKAid of contravening the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development Act 2012 which gives the content regulator powers to determine the right material for learners.

This, they said, could present loopholes for creation of material that could be harmful to learners’ development.

“Any other avenue of getting books to schools without KICD’s approval is illegal,” said the publishers.

Mr Njagi said that the textbooks cannot be recognised since they are not listed in the Orange Book, the official list of textbooks approved for use in primary and secondary schools.

Schools in seven counties are being supplied with the text books including Nairobi, Kisumu, Machakos, Nakuru, Kiambu, Kakamega and Bungoma.

Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development director Lydia Nzomo said that the content of all textbooks should be perused by agency for approval before they get into circulation to avoid sub-standard material.

However, she pleaded for time to look into the allegations and respond.

There are 87 publishers, all of whom are local with the exception of the UK-based Oxford University Press with a subsidiary in Nairobi.

The industry generates about Sh10 billion in revenues per year in Kenya alone with several other publishers having tentacles in Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan.