The Kenya Publishers Association has raised an alarm over an impending crisis in the education sector over the delay in publishing books for Grade 10 students transitioning into secondary school in January.
In a press briefing on Tuesday, October 7, the Association faulted the government for not releasing Ksh11.4 billion required to publish the books, warning that it could jeopardise the transition of over one million Grade 10 students in January 2026.
KPA boss Kiarie Kamau revealed that the funding hitches risked the printing of over seven million copies of the learning material required ahead of the 2026 school calendar.
“Because we, as publishers, have not been paid, we have not been able to settle dues owed to our various service providers,” Kamau noted.
“As a result, operations within our publishing houses have been severely constrained, with many publishers struggling to meet day-to-day operational costs. The settlement of this Ksh11.4 billion is therefore urgent and critical to enable publishers to print and distribute books,” he added.
Among the notable service providers affected are printers, who are owed approximately Ksh4 billion, distributors, authors and even the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA). Kamau added that the cost of the distribution exercise would cost an extra Ksh2.5 billion, bringing the total figure to Ksh11.6 billion.
Currently, textbooks approved by the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) are in the subjects of Mathematics, English, Kiswahili, Chemistry, Computer Studies, and General Science.
Other subjects are Business Studies, History and Citizenship, Biology, Geography and Community Service Learning.
Prices for these range from Ksh950 to Ksh1250, with the books coming from publishers such as Kenya Literature Bureau (KLB) and Oxford University Press East Africa.
In 2023, President William Ruto’s government initiated a review of subjects under the Competency-Based Education (CBE), reducing the number of learning areas in lower primary from nine to seven.
In upper primary, the number of learning areas was reduced from ten to eight, while in junior secondary, subjects were scaled down from fourteen to nine.
Books have become a cash cow in the new system, with every iteration forcing parents to dig into their pockets. In 2019, when the CBE system was rolled out, books were supplied for Grade 4 in thirteen learning areas.
