This archive report was first published on 3 September 2021.
Parents Feel the Pinch of CBC's Hidden Costs ¶
As the new school term began, Simon Odaya, a parent of a Grade Five student, was still struggling to buy the complete list of textbooks required by his daughter. With 20 textbooks to purchase, each costing around Sh500, Mr. Odaya was facing a total bill of Sh10,000.
Under the CBC, pupils in grades Four to Six are required to learn eight subjects, including physical and health education, mathematics, English, and science and technology. Additionally, they must choose between Christian Religious Education (CRE), Islamic Religious Education (IRE), and Hindu Religious Education (HRE). Other subjects include art and craft, music, pastoral programme of instruction, indigenous languages, and foreign languages such as German, French, and Arabic.
"The new curriculum has brought back subjects that were dropped in the 8-4-4 system, like music, art and craft, and agriculture," Mr. Odaya explained. "This means the additional subjects have pushed up the number of books, and you have not yet included exercise books."
Mr. Odaya also pointed out that the CBC encourages pupils to use technology to study, which has led to an increase in internet usage and printing costs. "Children are now using the internet a lot. Assuming you do not have an internet connection at home, your money will be used up at cybercafés," he said.
Another parent, Jane Waithera, shared a similar experience. She had to save up money to buy a printer to avoid the high costs of internet usage and printing at cybercafés.
"In a week, I was spending Sh800 at a cybercafé on the internet and printing some of the homework my son was required to do. This was becoming very expensive for me and I decided to save up money and buy a printer," she said.
According to Mr. Odaya, the total cost of textbooks alone for his two children, one in Grade Five and the other in Grade Four, is Sh5,000 per year. This does not include the cost of exercise books and other stationery.
Lawrence Njagi, the chairman of the Kenya Publishers Association, disagreed with the notion that the CBC is to blame for the demand for many books by schools. He argued that the problems of many books are being imposed by individual schools.
"In fact, we are left with a huge stock of books from the 8-4-4 syllabus that we cannot sell anywhere," Mr. Njagi said.
Prof Charles Ong'ondo, the CEO of the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development, also weighed in on the issue. He explained that the CBC does not prescribe a long list of learning materials to support the curriculum in schools.
"The government procures books for learners in public schools, and the rest are complementary learning materials that are optional," Prof Ong'ondo said.
He added that the curriculum designs provide for suggested learning materials, which means that teachers are expected to make rational decisions on what is required to aid learning, depending on where a school is located.
Published on September 3, 2021
