Parents begin early preparation for back to school amid textbooks hitch

Traders display text books in Kisii town. The traders decried low sales as most people travelled up country for Christmas. [Sammy Omingo, Standard]

Days after Christmas Day celebrations, some parents are already trooping to bookshops and uniforms stores to avoid last minutes rush ahead of schools opening in the first week of January.

Even so, The Standard has established that there is still confusion owing to the shortage of textbooks for learners in Grade nine.

A spot check in various bookshops in Nairobi yesterday established that the sellers are equally in limbo as parents who checked into the bookshops could not find some learning materials.

The book sellers argue that this shortage has been brought about by the government's decision to supply textbooks to public schools before the end of the year in readiness to the expected transition of

Textbook Centre manager retail department Kenneth Idambira, noted although most books are not on their shelves, they expect to get them before next week.

“We expect the suppliers to deliver our orders any time from now so that we can ease the burden on parents who have been looking for them,” he stated.

Some of the books cited include Physical Education, Visual Arts, and Performing Arts for Creative Arts & Sports, and Agriculture and Home Science for Agriculture.

Anne Nyambura, a parent who spoke to The Standard expressed her concerns that if this continues it could lead to a lot of inconveniences.

“The season of joy has quickly given way to a whirlwind of shopping and planning, leaving many of us grappling with financial and logistical challenges,” said Nyambura.

She cited traveling challenges, uniforms as well as paying school fees in a span of one week as inconveniencing for many parents who would have wished to do the shopping early starting from learning materials.

“We left the village early so that we could reduce the pressure of doing all these errands within one week. I have four school going children in different levels and becomes tiresome to handle the same things at once,” she stated.

Jane Wanjiru, a mother of two, as she juggles shopping bags filled with exercise books and uniforms feels there's a challenge in preparation.

“I believe the government decided to send most textbooks to public schools to beat the December deadline forgetting the private institutions,” she said.

The back-to-school checklist for many parents includes buying textbooks, stationery, uniforms, shoes, and even lunchboxes. For some, this means battling endless queues in crowded stores or scouring multiple shops for elusive items.

"Finding the right textbooks is like a treasure hunt," says Samuel Otieno. "I’ve had to visit four different shops just to get the complete list. And then there’s the matter of prices—they’ve gone up significantly this year."

With the high costs of school supplies and rising inflation, some parents are forced to stretch their budgets to the limit with some parents resorting for second hand books.

Mary Atieno, a parent of two said "It’s the only way I can save some money. Thankfully, there’s a vendor near my estate who sells second hand books."

Experts suggest parents start preparing early to ease the strain. However, for many, this is easier said than done.

"Saving throughout the year is key, but it’s tough to put money aside when you have other pressing expenses," admits Wanjiru.

Parents also blamed the government for frequent change of text books saying  to cope with the pressure, previously they turned to community-driven solutions such as local swap.

Last week, the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) dismissed claims of an impending textbook crisis in 2025, assuring that learning materials for all grades will be available as planned.

“The interim textbooks produced earlier remain adequate and cover all necessary strands in the rationalized learning areas,” KICD stated.

KICD Chief Executive Officer Prof. Charles Ong’ondo clarified that textbooks for all learning areas from Pre-Primary 1 (PP1) to Grade 9 are either already in schools or accessible in the open market.

The government has acknowledged a slight delay in textbooks for rationalized learning areas at Grade 7 and Grade 8—Agriculture, Creative Arts & Sports, and Pre-Technical Studies.

However, it assured that these materials, updated in December 2024, will be available in schools and the market by February 2025 after corrections and printing by publishers.

“There is no textbook crisis now or in 2025,” he stated.