Crucial meeting

“We are meeting ministry officials tomorrow over this matter of textbooks. Many of our schools have problems with the way distribution is being done. We will speak more after the meeting,” said Ndolo said. President Uhuru Kenyatta, while flagging off distribution of free textbooks, warned against corruption.
“Accountability for public resources is not going to be negotiable. The provision of free core course text books to every learner in public schools had been achieved without an extra shilling being pumped into the Ministry of Education’s budget,” he said in January during the launch. The President said the Government had saved Sh13.8 billion after bypassing middlemen and dealing direct with publishers. The first phase was to cover Standard Seven and Eight and Form One up to Form Four. But teachers across the country said there was no school that had received all the books under the programme. Teachers and their unions are now calling on the Government to investigate the whole distribution process, saying it is riddled with bureaucracy.   Zablon Awange, Kisumu branch executive secretary of Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers, said teachers in Nyanza region had received less books. “The textbook centralisation by Government was meant to solve past systems that targeted unscrupulous suppliers. Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohammed should ensure the process is a success as it used to be in 1970s and does not turn out to be a cash cow,” said Awange. He said taxpayers stand to lose if the process is not handled in a transparent manner, citing incidences where ministry officials are said to be interfering with the supply. “Logistics and delivery of textbooks is becoming a Herculean task. Textbooks are indicated ‘Not For Sale’ yet officials from the ministry are forcing teachers to write receipts for books delivered yet they only signed delivery notes without value,” said Awange.

KICD boss Education ministry referred The Standard to KICD chief executive of Dr Julius Jwan to comment on the matter. Jwan said the records they have show distribution in secondary schools had been completed, but acknowledged that there were cases of surpluses and deficits. Kenya Publishers Association chairman Lawrence Njagi said they had delivered 99 per cent of the textbooks as per the contract they signed with Government.

Courtesy of The Standard

Crucial meeting

“We are meeting ministry officials tomorrow over this matter of textbooks. Many of our schools have problems with the way distribution is being done. We will speak more after the meeting,” said Ndolo said. President Uhuru Kenyatta, while flagging off distribution of free textbooks, warned against corruption.
“Accountability for public resources is not going to be negotiable. The provision of free core course text books to every learner in public schools had been achieved without an extra shilling being pumped into the Ministry of Education’s budget,” he said in January during the launch. The President said the Government had saved Sh13.8 billion after bypassing middlemen and dealing direct with publishers. The first phase was to cover Standard Seven and Eight and Form One up to Form Four. But teachers across the country said there was no school that had received all the books under the programme. Teachers and their unions are now calling on the Government to investigate the whole distribution process, saying it is riddled with bureaucracy.   Zablon Awange, Kisumu branch executive secretary of Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers, said teachers in Nyanza region had received less books. “The textbook centralisation by Government was meant to solve past systems that targeted unscrupulous suppliers. Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohammed should ensure the process is a success as it used to be in 1970s and does not turn out to be a cash cow,” said Awange. He said taxpayers stand to lose if the process is not handled in a transparent manner, citing incidences where ministry officials are said to be interfering with the supply. “Logistics and delivery of textbooks is becoming a Herculean task. Textbooks are indicated ‘Not For Sale’ yet officials from the ministry are forcing teachers to write receipts for books delivered yet they only signed delivery notes without value,” said Awange.

KICD boss Education ministry referred The Standard to KICD chief executive of Dr Julius Jwan to comment on the matter. Jwan said the records they have show distribution in secondary schools had been completed, but acknowledged that there were cases of surpluses and deficits. Kenya Publishers Association chairman Lawrence Njagi said they had delivered 99 per cent of the textbooks as per the contract they signed with Government.

Courtesy of The Standard