KICD: 51 textbooks given the nod for use in 14 CBC subjects

Grade three students Amalia Arishka, Graham Kariuki and Georgian Nichole read through Competency-Based Curriculum textbooks at City Primary School. [Jonah Onyango, Standard]

A list of textbooks approved for use in schools under the new curriculum has been released by the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD).

Details seen by Saturday Standard reveal that books by 19 publishers passed all vetting stages and will provide titles for the 14 subject textbooks that will be put in the Orange Book.

Course books

The Orange Book is a guide that gives a comprehensive list of course books and other instructional materials approved by the Ministry of Education for use in all learning areas for Early Years Education (Eye).

Early Years Education covers pre-primary and lower primary education.

Details show that Oxford, Longhorn and KLB publishers have the most books approved, with six titles approved each.

Mentor has five titles while Spotlight has four. Moran has three books approved each while the East African Educational Publishers (EAEP) has two.

Jomo Kenyatta Foundation and Atfaal got two titles approved. The other 11 publishers -- Atfaal, Access, African Readers, Queenex, Mountain Top, Phoenix, Pearson, Story Moja, One Planet, Roots Educational and BookLyst -- have one book approved each.

In total, there are 51 titles to choose from for the 14 subjects.

Elyas Abdi, the director general at the Ministry of Education, urged all principals and head teachers to examine the Orange Book and only select the titles recommended.

“Textbooks are important in curriculum delivery. Pupils should have access to the right books. Only those listed in the Orange Book should be used in schools,” said Mr Abdi.

In a circular to all regional and county directors of education, Abdi cautioned against selecting unapproved books.

Grade and title

“You are therefore required to bring to the immediate attention of all principals and head teachers that only books listed in the Orange Book are allowed for use in schools,” said Abdi.

Any principal or head teacher who fails to implement the policy will be contravening section 27 of the KICD Act (2013).

The Orange Book also contains the criteria and procedure for selection of books.

The listing of the course books for Eye is done by level and grade according to the title within each learning area and does not in any way suggest an order of preference.

KICD Chief Executive Officer Jwan Julius asked parents to ensure the books purchased for their children are appropriate and recommended by the school.  

“Textbooks are important in curriculum delivery, therefore they must be the right ones to ensure learners are not treated to misleading content,” said Jwan.