By Antynet Ford
Congestion, confusion, shortage of teachers, delay of capitation, and delay of KPSEA results have marked the first two days of term one of 2025.
Despite promises from the government that all was ready for grade nine, a spot check by the corporate Watch indicated that some students were forced to share classes, and some were forced to construct makeshifts for the learners to use as classes.
As grade nine parents prepared to take their kids to school, this year’s preparation came with a layer of frustration and confusion.
They are grappling with textbook shortages with some books completely not being found with booksellers attributing the shortage to delays in publishing and slow distribution to bookstores.
“I have not found the grade nine books I was told to buy but I am still on the lookout” Brenda a parent of a grade nine kid in Nairobi told The Informer.
The sellers said there has been confusion even in the sale and distribution of grade five and six books because they were not sure if the books would remain the same or be changed as happened before.
“We were doubting if the books would be changed or they were going to use the old ones but we are now informed and we are selling the previous ones and new also.” Kenneth Indabira, the retail manager at the textbook centre said.
Parents stated that they had reserved buying because they were not sure as they could go to school and be told they had the wrong books.
The ministry of education however said they the printing of the books is already done and they’ll be readily available to public schools next week.
“The printing and publishing of grade nine books is at 85 per cent done and the distribution is ongoing and the remaining percentage will be done by next week. Some schools also did not have teachers to receive the books but we have taken care of that.” Education PS previously stated early this week.
Yesterday, the Kenya Publishers Association assured parents that books for Grades 5 to 8 will be available by the end of January.
They insisted that teachers can still use the old books before the new ones are released to the market.
This comes as last week Friday, the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) announced that learners in Grades Five to Eight will face further delays in receiving the new textbooks, despite schools reopening on Monday.
“Books are undergoing corrections at the KICD and will be in the market at the end of January and others in February.” They said.
The delay in publishing the books follows recommendations from Kenyans aimed at improving the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC).
Further, public school heads will also have to wait longer for funds after the national treasury said it will release the 50 per cent capitation later this month.
Treasury CS John Mbadi said the government is working closely with the Ministry of education to ensure the funds hit the school accounts before January 31.
“We are working closely with the ministry of education to ensure money is released to schools on time to ensure smooth learning.” He said.
Mbadi said he is aware of the concerns raised and urged school heads to bear with the government.
Two weeks before the opening of schools, the government had assured parents that it was fully prepared for the transition to Grade 9 in January 2025 and that it put in place all necessary measures to ensure a smooth and successful process.
The government said that the construction of 16,000 classrooms to be used by the Grade 9 nationwide was being done in three phases.
As the country ushered in Christmas, Government Spokesman Isaac Mwaura stated that the first phase of 3,500 classrooms was complete, while the second phase of 7,500 classrooms was 57 per cent complete.
Mwaura said that the final phase of 5,000 classrooms was underway and was expected to be completed by December 2024.
Additionally, Mwaura stated that the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) had recruited 56,000 teachers on permanent contracts while another 20,000 intern teachers were to be hired by January 2025.