Grade 10 learners face textbook crisis after first term

Parents and learners of Grade 10 students from various schools across the country have reported a shortage of textbooks during their first term in school.

Principals and teachers who spoke to Citizen TV but could not appear on record for fear of victimisation confirmed the shortage.

A C1 school in Nairobi confirmed an estimated nine books in a class of 50 students, forcing them to share in groups.

It is a situation that was confirmed by teachers and learners in some schools in Kisii and Baringo counties, a situation that will further strain parents' resources if it continues.

Charles Ong’ondo, the director at the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development, is blaming principals for failing to update their data with the Ministry.

“There are schools that have more learners than they had indicated, some are less; there are school they have dropped subjects because they didn’t get learners, some learners opted for different ones,” said Ong’ondo.

According to Prof Ong’ondo, they have been using the data that was shared by the Ministry of Education after the selection of pathways and subject combinations by learners in September 2025.

“You will notice a quick look at it that one, it doesn’t have all the subjects and these are the total number of learners but it doesn’t say which learner is in which school doing which subject, because that is what informs the distribution of textbooks,” he added.

Prof Ong’ondo maintains that based on the data that they have at KICD, they have distributed 98 per cent of books and in some counties like Nairobi and the Central region, they are at 100 per cent.

“We have written to principals to share the latest enrolment data so that we can embark on the second round,” Ong’ondo noted

Parents may be forced to step in and purchase the necessary materials to ensure uninterrupted learning.

The question remains: who holds the exact number of books per subject, per school that are needed for the 1.13 million learners who sat for the KJSEA examinations?