Seven companies including government agency Kenya Literature Bureau (KLB) have won tender worth billions of shillings to supply text books to 1.2 million Grade 4 pupils under the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC).
The seven companies will publish 14 textbooks which the government will supply to schools in January 2020 as the new curriculum rolls to Grade Four.
16 MILLION BOOKS
The firms will print 16 million books for all the 14 subjects before they are purchased and distributed to schools.
The results for the tenders were released on Friday. For three days starting Monday, Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD), education experts and publishers will be at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology to polish the approved books before printing can start in November.
KLB will print three textbooks; Oxford University Press (OUP) will print two textbooks while Longhorn Publisher will print books for two subjects.
Others are; Mountain Top, Moran Publishers, East African Educational Publishers and One Planet will each print one textbook.
During the evaluation, seven companies were shortlisted to supply Kiswahili books. Eight applied for Science and Technology, seven applied to print Agriculture books, two applied for Home Science, while two applied to print Mathematics books.
SPOTLIGHT
According to the evaluation report, Spotlight, Jomo Kenyatta Foundation (JKF), OUP and Longhorn Publishers presented bids for English textbooks. Kiswahili had Access, OUP, Longhorn, Mountain Top, East Africa Education Publishers and Spotlight, while Home Science attracted Oxford, Africa Readers, Mountain Top, Spotlight, Moran and Story Moja among others.
Science and Technology attracted KLB, Mentor, Story Moja, Artifact, Moran among others while Mathematics attracted OUP and KLB.
Christian Religious Studies had One Planet and OUP, Music had Moran, JKF, KLB and East Africa Education Publishers while Social Studies had OUP, Longhorn, Mentor, Roots Education and One Planet.
On Sunday, Kenya Publishers Association Chairperson Lawrence Njagi expressed confidence that the books will be ready by November.
BOOK FAIR
“It’s our hope that the Ministry of Education will ensure that the books are ready on time,” said Mr Njagi during a press briefing ahead of 22nd Nairobi International Book Fair.
Mr Njagi said this year’s book fair is the biggest with the theme read, apply and freedom which will focus on the important role books play in daily life.
“We are grateful to the Ministry of Education for involving Kenyan Publishers Association in key decision making as the rollout of the new curriculum continues,” said Mr Njagi.
KLB Managing Director Victor Lomaria said the agency had prioritised the delivery books for the new curriculum.
“Our publishing department has also been working hard, day and night, with support from other units to ensure we submit Grade 4 CBC books in good time,” said Mr Lomaria.
The government took over the procurement of books for schools after massive corruption was discovered following an investigation by Ethics and anti-corruption commission.