Why JSS Books Distribution Has Delayed
The delay in the distribution of textbooks has been attributed to a lack of coordination between the Ministry of Education and the schools.
Some schools missed the government distribution list because they registered late after the government had started the distribution of books, and had not updated their records.
Others had only up to grade four or up to grade six, and had not updated their records with sub-county directors of education.
The Ministry of Education has also been blamed for delayed release of the approved list of Junior Secondary School (JSS) books to publishers, which has caused a delay in the distribution of textbooks to schools.
The approved list is also important for the disbursement of capitation for learners. A report on the exercise was submitted to the Director General-Education on January 23, with the expectation that it would be completed within two weeks.
However, it was revealed that the comprehensive list of schools was only released two weeks ago, which was almost a month late. This explains why many schools have not had textbooks since the JSS was introduced.
Machogu informed the Senate Education Committee that 18,695 primary public schools were finally approved to host Junior Secondary. Some schools were not able to meet the requisite standards to host Junior Secondary, and were forced to become feeder schools to nearby JSS.
This has caused confusion in the movement of learners, making it difficult to locate which institutions the learners are now placed for disbursement.
The teachers’ unions are split on the cause of the mess in JSS as the scramble for about 70,000 JSS members takes center stage.
The Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) maintains that no learning is taking place in JSS, while the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) defends the transition and faults their counterparts.
The Kenya Primary School Heads Association (Kepsha) has also taken sides with Knut. Knut and Kepsha pushed for the domiciling of JSS in primary schools, saying the teachers available in the institutions had the capacity to teach Grade 7 classes.
Kuppet Secretary General Akelo Misori attributed the crisis in Grade Seven to a lack of enough teachers, limited learning materials, low capitation funds, unclear teacher management, and low support staff in the schools.
However, Knut Secretary General Collins Oyuu said learning is going on in Junior Secondary public schools, arguing that teachers are being deployed well.
Why JSS Books Distribution Has Delayed
