Directive on textbooks is bad for schools but a godsend for cartels

Dr Fred Matiang’i’s decision to shift the role of procuring and distributing textbooks from school heads to the government is misguided and highly suspicious.

Dr Matiang’i accused headteachers of abusing the system and frustrating the government’s effort to achieve a 1:1 student/book ratio.

The Cabinet secretary is not a politician but he spoke like one. In one markedly implausible statement, he condemned headteachers as incompetent and corrupt and sought to make a major policy change in the management of the school system in a whimsical declaration that was not based on facts or a sound survey of the school book distribution system.

If it is true that headteachers have abused the system, would it not have been more reasonable to single out the culprits and discipline them? Is it possible that all the men and women tasked with running our public schools are inept?

If that were the case, why strip them of only a single role out of the numerous tasks that they carry out to ensure that our children get quality education? In any case, textbooks only account for a small fraction of the total budget of schools.

What Dr Matiang’i has done is akin to ordering a doctor to stop giving injections because he cannot find the patient’s veins, yet allow him to continue performing all the other tasks, such as surgery.

Dr Matiang’i complained that the student-to-book ratio has remained at 5:1 despite the billions of shillings the government spends each year to achieve equity. Has he factored in other variables that work against this campaign such as book losses, frequent curriculum changes that call for constant revision of the titles, and normal wear and tear?

Assuming the government is right that the system is broken and needs fixing, why is it creating a bureaucratic Leviathan to sort out an issue that can be sorted out at school level? By taking over the distribution of books, how will the government determine the individual needs of each school, especially at secondary level where the curriculum is not uniform?

INDEBTED TO SUPPLIERS

Most schools order books and other materials once each year and then pay suppliers gradually as the ministry releases the funds in bits and pieces and always late. This means that most schools have already made their commitments for this year and are indebted to the suppliers.

How will the ministry sort out the debts or will it leave schools to fend for themselves? And what is the fate of the thousands of booksellers whose livelihood depends on supplying schools?

The ministry is known for its perennial delays in releasing free education funds and bursaries to schools, which begs the question how it will ensure that the books are released promptly without interrupting the syllabus schedules.

It remains to be seen how the ministry will tender for the supplies now that headteachers are out of the picture. The reason the schools laptop project is still a pipe dream is because of tendering controversies in the ministry, a situation likely to be replicated with the distribution of textbooks.

The government is creating the perfect environment for cartels to make a quick buck at the expense of millions of school children. The School Equipment Scheme, which thrived in the past decade, was crippled by cartels that controlled prices and distributed books only to some schools.

The provision of textbooks in schools is important for improving the quality of learning if the materials are relevant and well suited to the needs of the learners. Kenyans who care about the quality of public education need to scrutinise Dr Matiang’i’s directive since it has the potential of worsening the textbook sharing ratio rather than improving it.

Since assuming leadership at the Ministry of Education, Dr Matiang’i has struck the right chord on many issues such as cheating in national examinations and expansion of universities. However, on this one, he has thrown away the baby with the bath water.

Mr Waihenya is rewrite editor on the Daily Nation. [email protected].