A recent press briefing by the Kenya Publishers Association regarding a debt of over Ksh 11 billion owed to them by the government is disconcerting. It occurs that the Grade 10 textbooks are yet to be printed, just some months before the pioneer CBE learners’ transition to Senior School. A delay in printing will lead to late distribution, and the quagmire will only exacerbate the already dire situation characterizing the implementation of the new curriculum.
As per the curriculum framework and designs provided by KICD, the new curriculum contains a wide range of concepts and learning areas whose scope far much surpasses that of the outgoing 8-4-4, thus, it is needful that teachers get enough interaction with the books to sufficiently internalise subject concepts in order to confidently and competently disseminate the knowledge to their learners.
For instance, literature is henceforth disintegrated from grammar, and broadened to encompass a myriad of novels, plays, poetry and related concepts which learners will be expected to cover before they join Grade 11. This requires that learning kicks off immediately the academic year begins, with a slight delay leading to regrettable bottlenecks.
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Although the preparation of such materials involves experts, retrospectively serious errors have been discovered at the classroom level, some of which have necessitated corrections through corrigendum as well as printing of revised editions of the textbooks. Timely distributions, therefore, will give teachers and other stakeholders sufficient time to critique the contents and ascertain suitability before consumption by learners. Case in point, the Junior School curriculum framework underwent rationalisation after discovery of overlaps, leading to merging of several learning areas, hence a reduction of the subjects from 14 to 9.
When it comes to settlement of pending bills, the government’s track record is unsettling, and if the recent experience is anything to go by, there is a likelihood of schools reopening for the next academic year with no textbooks in place. I hope the government moves with speed to break the impasse.
By Wornicks Gisemba
Wornicks Gisemba is a teacher of English at Nkoile Boys High School, Kajiado Central. He is also an author and editor. wornicksg@gmail.com
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