Kenyan primary students to lack learning materials in January

School books publishers have announced that there will be no learning materials in January 2019 for grade four pupils. This is because there is not enough time to print new curriculum books for Grade Four.

Kenya Publishers Association (KPA) Chairman Lawrence Njagi said that the Government failed to submit the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) design material on time to the publishers.

According to Njagi, printing of learning materials takes at least six months.

He added that due to the limited printing time, the Grade three pupils will have to revert back to the 8-4-4 system coming year.

The 2-6-3-3-3 system was launched by the Ministry of Education in January to replace the 32-year-old 8-4-4 system. The new system was designed by the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) with teachers’ unions protesting that the implementation of the system was rushed.

The main aim of the 2-6-3-3-3 curriculum is to develop skills, knowledge and applying both to real-life situations. But according to KPA, the curriculum is plagued by financial and logistical challenges that the Government is not ready for.

According to The Standard newspaper, Njagi confirmed that KPA have written to the Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohammed but there has been no response from the Ministry of Education.