TEXTBOOKS: Bitok now moves procurement to agency dissolved by cabinet

Basic Education PS Julius Bitok before National Assembly Committee. [File, Standard]

Basic Education PS Julius Bitok has now said that the procurement of textbooks for schools would be taken to the School Equipment Production Unit (SEPU).

 The Cabinet through a memo, Issue No. 1 of 2025, approved dissolution of SEPU and earmarked it for a merger.

 In a letter dated April 9, Bitok signaled a significant policy shift that would see Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) lose its long-held role in textbook procurement and distribution to primary and secondary schools.

 “Going forward, the Ministry will implement the recommendation of the Presidential Working Party on Education Report (PWPER) on procurement of textbooks,” Bitok states in the letter.

 The communication is contained in the letter that also allowed KICD to complete the procurement process of grade 10textboks that had been stalled.

Bitok authorised KICD chief executive Charles Ong'ondo to complete the ongoing procurement process for Grade 11 textbooks. 

The detail comes after The Standard revealed internal strife over the procurement of the  Sh7 billion grade 10 textbooks as publishers protested and threatened litigation.

 In the same letter, Bitok authorised KICD to complete the current procurement process, effectively ending weeks of behind-the-scenes wrangles within the Ministry of Education.

 “The purpose of this letter is to authorize you to complete the procurement process of Grade Eleven (11) textbooks based on the Constitution of Kenya, Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act No. 33 of 2015 and its regulations,” the PS wrote.

 The directive followed warnings from KICD that delays in concluding the procurement process could expose both the Ministry and the institute to legal risks.

The dispute had escalated into a quiet but intense power struggle between KICD and sections within the Ministry over control of the Sh7 billion textbook tender. At the centre of the standoff were claims that senior officials were attempting to block the award of tenders in favour of selected publishers.

 What is however worth the note is the planned policy shift.

 If Bitok’s proposal is implemented, the shift would see future textbook procurement—starting with Grade 12—handled by SEPU, in line with recommendations of the Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms released in 2023.

 Under those proposals by Presidential Working Party on Education Report (PWPER), SEPU would be restructured into the School Learning and Instruction Materials Centre (SLIMC), a semi-autonomous agency under the State Department for Basic Education, with an expanded mandate to procure and distribute learning materials.

 “Thus, the current arrangement where books are procured by KICD be discontinued, and the function taken to the restructured SEPU,” reads part of the working party proposal.

 “The centre shall be a semi-autonomous government agency within the State Department of Basic Education, with membership drawn from KICD, KNEC, teacher training colleges, the National Treasury and private schools associations.”

 But the plan would also run into a major policy contradiction.

 A Cabinet despatch dated January 21, 2025 lists SEPU among 16 state corporations earmarked for dissolution, citing outdated mandates or functions that can be handled by the private sector. The proposed dissolution forms part of broader austerity and state corporation reforms aimed at reducing duplication and cutting costs.

 

The inclusion of SEPU in the dissolution list throws the Ministry’s plan into uncertainty, raising questions about how the transfer of the textbook mandate will be implemented.

 On Thursday, Bitok told The Standard that the Ministry intends to proceed with strengthening SEPU despite the Cabinet position.

 “SEPU will be strengthened in line with the Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms and, in the long term, will be responsible for textbook distribution,” he said.

 The conflicting positions now cast doubt over the future of textbook supply to schools, with the contradiction between the Presidential reform agenda and Cabinet policy threatening to complicate implementation and disrupt supply chains.

 The revelations come a day after an impasse that had threatened to derail the timely delivery of Grade 11 textbooks.

 On Saturday, the Education Cabinet Secretary, Migos Ogamba, admitted to internal struggles in the department that have delayed the award of tenders to publishers of Grade 11 learning materials.

 However, the cabinet Secretary has downplayed it as a mere internal processing strife that his ministry has already resolved.

 “To put the worries to rest, we have given instructions and we have intervened. Those letters are now going to be issued to the publishers. There is no problem. It was an internal processing matter and it was not as it was reported in the media,” Ogamba said.

 “We are actually in Grade 10 and we are going to process the other issues at the right time,” the CS added.

 Ogamba was speaking in Nyamira on Friday during his reconnaissance inspection of some of the government projects President William Ruto is expected to launch during his tour of the County on Monday.

 While still defending the ministry over the delayed issuance of tender award letters to publishers, Migos said it was the backlog of supply of Grade 10 learning materials to schools that was to blame for the delay of issuance of award letters to publishers who will be printing course books for Grade 11.

 “The process of issuing letters for the processing of Grade 11 had started but the Ministry thought it wiser to complete the issue of Grade 10 first before they issue the letters for Grde 11 so that we are not caught up again in the issue of those financial resources,” the CS said.