State in Sh1.39b debt to publishers
By Mercy.Mwai, October 26, 2023
The Ministry of Education owes various publishers a whooping Sh1.39 billion for grade seven and 2023 set books, a new document shows.
Of the Sh1.39 billion Sh847.3 million is owed to publishers who supplied grade seven books and Sh543.1 million is owed to publishers who supplied 2023 set books.
National assembly
The document submitted to the National Assembly by Education Cabinet secretary Ezekiel Machogu (pictured) however, shows that the government had provided adequate funds to cover all the pending payments owed to publishers and are paid once they provide delivery notes and upon verification by the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD).
In his brief to the MPs, Machogu explained that the ministry of education through KICD provided textbooks to all the learners in public schools on a one book per learner, per subject and thus parents were only required to provide exercise books, pens, rulers, mathematical sets and any other materials to enable learners participate in the classrooms as agreed with teachers.
According to Machogu, textbooks for grade four were distributed to schools in 2020, those for grade 5 were distributed in 2021, those in grade six in 2022 while those for grade seven were distributed this year while the distribution of text books for grade eight is ongoing.
Reads the brief: “all the books supplied are adapted for learners with special needs, who are also issued with books on the one –to-one ratio.”
According to the document, Kenya Literature Bureau (KLB) is owed Sh19.69 million, the East African Educational Publishers (EAEP) is owed Sh141.77 million, Oxford publishers Sh139.3 million, Moran publishers Sh11 million, Longhorn publishers Sh130.56 million, Jomo Kenyatta Foundation (JKF) publishers Sh252.4 million and Mountain Top publishers Sh171.77 million.
Others are Story moja publishers Sh9.9 million, spotlight publishers Sh135.9 million, Access publishers Sh43.7 million, Queenex publishers Sh99.2 million, Kenya Institute of the Blind (KIB) Sh35.3 million.