This archive report was first published on 13 October 2019.
The Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) rollout in Kenya is set to bring good tidings to local printing firms, with the Education ministry ordering the printing of Grade Four textbooks in the country.
Seven publishers have been selected to supply the required 14.4 million textbooks, with the condition that all printing must be done locally.
"The condition for Grade Four contract is that you must use a local printer," said Lawrence Njagi, chairman of the Kenya Publishers Association.
Local printers have been struggling to compete with rivals from countries like India and China, but this new development is expected to give them a much-needed boost.
Only one of the selected publishers owns a printer, meaning that the rest will have to outsource printing services from third parties.
The seven publishers selected to supply Grade Four textbooks include the State-owned Kenya Literature Bureau, Longhorn Publishers, Mountain Top Publishers, Moran Publishers, Jomo Kenyatta Foundation, One Planet Publishers, and Oxford University Press.
The publishers have been given until November 28 to print and deliver the textbooks to schools, with the aim of having them in place by the time schools reopen in January 2020.
This is an improvement compared to this year, when pupils had to endure the first term without learning materials due to delayed government capitation and uncertainty surrounding the rollout of the CBC.
Published on October 13, 2019, at 21:46.
