Matiangi said the new policy will ensure that all public primary and secondary schools get the instructional materials necessary for effective teaching and learning/FILE
NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 26- The Government is set to facilitate the distribution of textbooks direct to schools, effective from January, the Cabinet Secretary for Education, Fred Matiangi has said.
This means schools will no longer handle the cash earmarked to buy the textbooks books as it has been the case since the introduction of Free Primary and Free Day Secondary Education programs in 2003 and 2008, respectively.
Matiangi said the new policy will ensure that all public primary and secondary schools get the instructional materials necessary for effective teaching and learning.
He said the government had spent Sh300billion in capitation under the Freed Primary and Free Day Secondary education programmes.
Matiangi, however, expressed concern that most schools had not attained the 1:1 learner to textbook ratio, denying learners instructional materials which are important for improving learning outcomes.
Matiangi announced that the Government is also set to re-inspect International Schools to ensure that they complied with the rules, guidelines, and regulations on education.
He said schools offering International Curriculum are expected to recruit teachers who have been registered by the Teachers Service Commission, and also teach Kiswahili and History up to grade nine.
“The curriculum must be approved by the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD), he added.
He challenged the leadership of the association to ensure their members comply with all regulations concerning education, including management of national examinations.
He said the government would deregister any private school whose management was found in examinations malpractice and cheating.
“Buying examination paper or opening examinations paper earlier than scheduled is unacceptable,” Matiangi said.
He announced that the government is set to introduce three-year diploma training and to replace P1 certificate training to impart more skills to the teachers to enable them to engage with learners more effectively.
The Cabinet Secretary said the national government would engage County Governments to exempt educational institutions from any form of taxes.
He said the country should avoid any policy action that made education unnecessary expensive, saying some county governments were imposing taxes on bus labeling.
He said it was wrong to tax children for being moved around in school buses.
KPSA Chairperson Mutheu Kasanga, thanked the government for the support it was giving private schools sector, saying the association would ensure all their members complied with the laws and regulations touching on education.
She said the government had incorporated the member in the monitoring of national examinations saying they were happy that none of their members were involved in examinations malpractice during the just released 2017 KCPE examinations results.
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