Kenyan Publishers Set to Increase the Price of Certified Course Books
In a letter addressed to the National Treasury and Ministry of Education, the publishers are requesting a 12% increase in textbook costs in the coming academic year.
Leah Mukangai 
The publishers are advocating for price increment due to the rising cost of printing paper in the country, which has resulted in the majority of them losing money over time by maintaining the same rates for the books.
“We hope in the 2023 academic year we will be allowed to increase our prices, otherwise our profit margins will continue to suffer,” the chairperson of the Kenya Publishers Association reported.
To accommodate the demand for course books, publishers utilize imported printing papers primarily from China, India, and Egypt
Publishers, on the other hand, are not required to modify the prices of approved course books unless they gain direct government approval.
If the requests are adopted, parents will be required to pay more beginning in January 2023, when the academic calendar returns to its normal schedule.
The academic year in 2022 will have four terms, with two national examinations scheduled during that time to make up for time missed at the pandemic's peak.
Due to the compressed academic calendar, parents have been compelled to dig deeper into their pockets in order to pay school fees four times in one calendar year.
In accordance with the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) regulations, the school periods have also obliged parents to acquire books for the four terms and suffer additional expenditures.
