- The government has failed to clear an old Ksh 7 billion debt owed to publishers, delaying the printing of Grade 11 textbooks needed for January 2027.
- Publishers have warned that the printing and distribution of about seven million copies will require at least 90 days, leaving a shrinking window before the rollout.
- Parliament has exposed weaknesses in textbook allocation, citing cases where some schools received thousands of excess textbooks while other schools went without.
Kenya has entered a critical 90-day race to prepare Grade 11 learners for January 2027, yet publishers contracted to produce the textbooks have reportedly not started printing. At the centre of the delay is about Ksh 7 billion that the government still owes publishers for textbooks and other learning materials supplied under previous contracts. This is not the cost of the new Grade 11 books; it is an old government debt that is now threatening to become a new obstacle to the next phase of Competency-Based Education.
The Kenya Publishers Association says the outstanding debt has fallen to about Ksh 7 billion after the government released Ksh 2 billion last week. Publishers have indicated that the bulk of the remaining amount is expected in November, with the balance in January 2027. Yet the January deadline cannot wait for the financial calendar.
The production mathematics is unforgiving. Publishers have previously estimated about 60 days to print and another 30 days to distribute approximately seven million Grade 11 copies nationally, with 21 publishing firms expected to participate in the exercise. That leaves education managers with a straightforward question: will the books be in schools before Grade 11 learners report, or will the country once again begin a new curriculum level while waiting for essential learning materials?
The subjects involved make the exercise even more important. Grade 11 materials will be needed across English, Kiswahili, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Geography, History and Citizenship, Business Studies, Computer Studies and Agriculture, alongside approved materials for Religious Education, languages, Arts and Sports, Technical and Applied Sciences, literature and other pathway-specific learning areas. These are not supplementary resources; textbooks are among the basic tools through which teachers interpret curriculum content and organise classroom instruction. Teachers need them before learners arrive so they can familiarise themselves with content, prepare schemes of work, plan lessons and design assessments, while learners need them from the first day if the curriculum is to be taught rather than improvised.
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The Grade 10 experience makes this particularly important. The January 2026 senior-school transition was affected by shortages of teaching and learning materials, with thousands of learners reportedly remaining without textbooks until the second term. School principals are now concerned that Grade 11 could face a similar problem. Kenya should not normalise this pattern. A curriculum transition should be planned as a complete system, with curriculum designs, teachers, classrooms, assessment, financing and learning materials moving together. When one component arrives late, the burden is transferred directly to schools and teachers, who are then expected to compensate for weaknesses elsewhere in the system.
That is why accountability must now move beyond general assurances. The Ministry of Education should publish a Grade 11 textbook readiness schedule showing when printing will begin, how many copies will be produced, when quality assurance will be completed, when consignments will leave printing facilities and when each school is expected to receive its allocation. The Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development should also ensure that only approved materials are supplied and that allocation reflects actual learner numbers, pathways and subjects offered by each institution.
This is particularly important because recent parliamentary scrutiny has already exposed serious weaknesses in textbook allocation. MPs summoned senior Education Ministry and KICD officials after investigations found that some national schools had received excess textbooks while other schools lacked essential materials. Kagumo High School alone was reported to have received 6,668 excess textbooks between 2021 and 2025, with the excess books valued at more than Ksh 7.2 million. The lesson for Grade 11 is clear: the country needs both speed and accountability. Printing millions of books will not solve the problem if the wrong books end up in the wrong schools, or if some institutions receive more than they can use while others remain empty-handed.
The government must therefore tackle the old debt while ring-fencing the new Grade 11 timetable. Publishers have previously warned that delayed government payments affect the entire book-production chain, including printers, distributors, authors and other service providers, with printers alone previously reported to be owed close to Ksh 4 billion. This has implications far beyond publishers’ balance sheets: if printers cannot obtain paper, publishers cannot sustain production; if distributors cannot finance transportation, books cannot reach schools; and if schools receive materials late, teachers lose valuable instructional time.
The cost ultimately appears in the classroom. A Grade 11 learner who begins the year without the prescribed textbook is not merely missing a physical book. The learner may have reduced opportunity for independent study, revision and practice, while teachers may have to rely more heavily on dictated notes or improvised materials. Schools with limited resources are likely to feel the consequences most sharply.
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Government should therefore treat the January 2027 deadline as an education-readiness deadline, not merely a procurement target. There is still time to act, but the margin is shrinking. The State needs to honour its commitments to publishers, secure the production chain, start printing, monitor output and ensure that distribution is completed before learners enter Grade 11 classrooms. Education officials should be able to account for when the money was released, when printing commenced, how many books were produced, where they were dispatched and which schools received them, since that is how a national curriculum rollout should be managed, with measurable milestones rather than last-minute explanations.
The Ksh 7 billion is an old debt, but its consequences could become a new Grade 11 crisis. Sixty days to print, 30 days to distribute and January 2027 as the deadline leave no justification for further administrative drift. The pioneer Grade 11 cohort should enter senior school with teachers prepared, schools equipped and textbooks already on desks. Kenya must not wait for Grade 11 learners to arrive before beginning the textbook race.
By Hillary Muhalya
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