NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 27 — Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu on Friday officially launched the national distribution of Grade VII books to schools.
The launch came days ahead of reporting of the first cohort of the Junior secondary school learners on Monday.
Speaking at the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD), Machogu said that a total of 17,893,270 copies of learners’ books and 423,514 copies of teachers’ guide will be distributed by the end of the exercise next week.
Machogu said that all Grade VII learners in public schools will be issued with a text book in each of the core learning areas at Junior Secondary School and the optional subjects they will choose.
The books, according to Mochogu, will be distributed to all schools that have been found suitable to admit Grade 7 learners.
“The start of the distribution of Grade seven textbooks that will cost the government a total of Sh3,164,365,856 follows the completion of the assessment exercise of all primary schools to ascertain their readiness to host the Junior Secondary School learners,” CS Machogu stated.
KICD approval
The CS directed that all public and private schools use only the books that have been approved by KICD.
The list of approved textbooks and all curriculum designs for all the learning areas/subjects for all grades are available on the KICD website.
“This is because the rigorous evaluation process ensures that the approved books cover the curriculum designs adequately and contain acceptable content, language and illustrations,” the CS noted.
The distribution schedule will run from January 30 and February 17, 2023.
CS Machogu further urged all parents and guardians of Grade VII parents to ensure the children report to schools on Monday so as to start off their next level of learning promptly.
Additionally, headteachers have been advised to check the number of books supplied to their schools.
Any school that may have variances between the number of books delivered in relation to the number of learners in Grade seven should report to the Sub County Education office.
The Ministry of Education has already released comprehensive interim guidelines to all schools and field officers on how the Grade VI learners will be transitioning to Junior Secondary School learning.
CS Machogu noted that all this is in line with the government’s commitment in implementing the much needed education reforms.
