By Correspondent
The distribution of textbooks in primary schools to ensure the 1:1 pupil to book ratio has greatly improved performance of pupils
Principal Secretary for Early Learning and Basic Education Dr. Julius Jwan said the government had enabled every learner in primary school to have textbooks in all learning areas.
He was speaking at Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) during the launch of a report on Early grade literacy programme that was introduced by the government and USAID to improve literacy in all public primary schools in the country.
The programme, popularly called Tusome, was funded by USAID at the cost of Kshs 8.88 billion and targeted 5.4 million class 1 and 2 pupils in public primary schools.
Dr. Jwan noted that the experience of implementing the programme led the government to adopt cheaper ways of buying textbooks in schools.
He said the revision that the government was undertaking on Tusome textbooks underscored the dynamic nature of the curriculum.
“The curriculum is a living thing,” Dr. Jwan noted, saying the changes aim at continuing the relevance of the curriculum taught and learned in schools.
The Mission Director USAID Kenya and East Africa Mr. Mark Meassick said that the Ministry and USAID had developed and distributed 26 million books aligned to the Competence Based Curriculum (CBC) as part of the Tusome Programme.
“We have put CBC aligned English and Kiswahili books into the hands of every Kenyan school child and their teachers,” Meassick said.
He said the programme had led to positive gains in learning outcomes.
Also present during the occasion included the KICD Chief Executive Officer Prof. Charles Ong’ondo, the Chief Executive Officer of Kenya National Examination Centre (KNEC) and Dr. David Njengere and senior education officers.
