28 publishers enter race for Grade Seven textbooks deal
Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development director Julius Jwan distributes textbooks to MM Shah Primary School pupils in Kisumu on January 19. FILE PHOTO | NMG
Some of the firms include government agency Kenya Literature Bureau (KLB), Oxford, Longhorn, Mountain Top, Moran, Spotlight, and East African Educational Publishers.
The State is supplying textbooks directly to schools in a move targeted at achieving 1:1 textbook-to-student ratio in a bid to improve learning.
In the last cycle, 32 firms made submissions to the KICD out of which eight were selected to supply Grade six-course books.
The Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) has received requests from 28 firms to supply Grade 7 textbooks under the Competency-Based Curriculum.
The winning firms will be expected to publish 19 textbooks that the government will supply to schools in preparation for the roll-out of the new curriculum to Grade 7 in January.
Some of the firms include government agency Kenya Literature Bureau (KLB), Oxford, Longhorn, Mountain Top, Moran, Spotlight, and East African Educational Publishers.
“A total of 28 publishers made submissions for course materials to the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) for evaluation and are waiting for approval on April 14,” said the Kenya Publishers Association (KPA) chairman Lawrence Njagi.
The State is supplying textbooks directly to schools in a move targeted at achieving 1:1 textbook-to-student ratio in a bid to improve learning.
In the last cycle, 32 firms made submissions to the KICD out of which eight were selected to supply Grade six-course books.
Submitted course materials are evaluated against curriculum designs to ensure publishers align content with what teachers are expected to teach.
The publishers are required to incorporate pertinent and contemporary issues and community learning service learning as provided for in the Basic Education Curriculum Framework.
Mr Njagi said publishers have also made submissions for complementary material including dictionaries, atlases, and storybooks, with approvals expected in May.
After the selection of the firms, the KICD education experts and publishers converge to polish the approved books before printing.
The direct supply of textbooks to schools is aimed at getting rid of cartels in the distribution chain who had been blamed for inflating textbook prices.
