State issues 25m books to boost early grades literacy
By Irene Githinji, September 19, 2019The government has distributed at least 25 million textbooks to public primary schools towards improving early grades literacy under the Tusome project.
Early Learning and Basic Education director general Elyas Abdi said the books were distributed to schools under the programme, which is funded by USAid at a cost of Sh5.6 billion ($53.8 million).
About nine million learners have benefitted from distribution of English and Kiswahili textbooks in 23,000 public primary schools.
“It has had an impact on literacy as learners are able to read and comprehend with the fluency early grade literacy requires,” Abdi said in an interview at his office yesterday.
He said the teachers implementing the programme have undergone intensive training to equip them with relevant teaching methodologies the project requires for effective delivery of the English and Kiswahili curriculum in Grades One and Two.
Facilitate learning
Abdi said the government was focusing on learning beyond mere access to education or schooling.
He said literacy skills provide the foundation learners require to progress to higher grades, saying it facilitates learning in other disciplines.
The Tusome Programme is based on findings of pilot studies carried out under the Primary Maths and Reading (PRIMR) initiative in 547 schools in five counties from 2011 to 2014.