From textbook shortage to pathway changes, what troubles Grade 10 learning

Back to school and grade 10 admissions going on countrywide. [Benjamin Sakwa, Standard]

Learning is yet to begin in senior secondary schools, as students enter the second week with uncertainty over delay in deliver of textbooks, mass switching of learning pathways and, in some institutions, low reporting.

The delay follows the Ministry of Education's decision to extend the reporting deadline to January 21 after it failed to achieve the 100 per cent transition target within the initial one-week window.

As a result, most schools are yet to commence lessons as they wait for late-reporting learners.

With the admission period drawing to a close today, school heads indicate that they are ill-prepared to begin lessons, citing acute shortages of textbooks and unresolved pathway choices by students.

Interviews with teachers and school heads indicate that most institutions have received textbooks for only a handful of subjects, with some yet to receive any learning materials.

The Ministry of Education and the Kenya Publishers Association(KPA) had earlier promised that textbooks would be available in schools from January 16 after the Ministry of Education released Sh5.64 billion to pay part of the debt owed to publishers.

However, interviews with school heads indicate that most institutions have received less textbooks than the number of students admitted.

At Kenya High School, one of the schools grappling with over enrolment, the administration reported that it had received textbooks for only three subjects; ICT, English and French.

"In ICT, we have 160 books, English 160 and French five books, but we have 800 learners admitted in Grade 10. We cannot begin meaningful teaching without textbooks. Even where we have received them, the numbers are not enough for all learners," a teacher at school said.

Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association (KESSHA) chairman Willy Kuria warned that the delay in textbook delivery will severely impair schools' ability to start classes.

"The lack of textbooks will affect the commencement of teaching and learning. Schools cannot be expected to deliver the curriculum without the necessary materials," Kuria said.

The delays threaten to eat into the academic calendar. With the first term running for 13 weeks, Grade 10 students now have about 10 weeks to cover content originally planned for a full term, raising questions about how the lost time will be recovered.

"Teaching and learning is yet to begin, and we are now at 10 weeks. The time is set to shrink even further if this week ends with no meaningful learning taking place, and now the question is how will this time be recovered?" Kuria asked.

On Wednesday, Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba said student admission stood at 75 per cent nationally. However, the ministry is yet to give the actual figures of those who have reported.

At the same time, principals say they are dealing with widespread switching of pathways, as students reconsider earlier subject and career choices made during placement.

"Many students are seeking to change their pathway choices. We are providing career and guidance lessons because we have noticed that a significant number of them are uncertain about the pathways they were placed in," a principal told The Standard.

The situation has caused anxiety among school heads, who are concerned that the changes could result in skewed subject enrolments and an imbalance between students and available teachers.

"There is a real risk that some subjects will end up with too many students compared to the teachers available to handle them," another principal said.