Page 32 - KPSA EXCELLENCE MARCH -MAY ONLINE
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What to Consider
When Compiling a School Booklist
ABy Ashford Gikunda. course books. There are about 50 Booklists have a bearing on the
s the 2020/2021 school term publishing firms with at least 10 academic excellence of a school. A
three begins in May, schools mainstream ones including Oxford, quick glance at the top successful
will be performing the annual Moran, Longhorn, Kenya Literature schools reveal that their excellence
ritual of compiling booklists. Term Bureau, Jomo Kenyatta Foundation, is founded on the course books they
three is characterized by a lot of East African Educational Publishers settle on. As such booklists play a
lobbying by different publishing firms among others. There are also a sizeable critical role in a school’s academic
to convince schools to use their course number of upcoming publishing firms excellence. Remember the adage,
books. whose entry into the market has ‘garbage in garbage out.’ So when
Every publisher blows their own caused ripples. a school settles for bogus course
trumpet. The process of compiling The new and upcoming firms have books, it produces bogus academic
school booklist is punctuated with a fancier books and are giving the results. You can easily judge a school
lot of horse trading, arm twisting and mainstream firms a run for their from its booklist!
in some cases inducements in form of money. The new firms include: I remember with nostalgia my days
kickbacks. In the end, merit does not Spotlight, Distinction, Mentor, Signal, in primary school when ‘Read with
prevail. Instead deals are cut at the Evangel, Mountain Top, Queenex and us and Msingi wa Kiswahili’ never
expense of vulnerable learners. Most Storymoja publishers. Teachers have a missed in our unwritten booklists. The
schools do this out of ignorance. special preference for books published two books left an indelible experience
Different schools select different by the new entrants because of the way in my childhood. Those were the
they package their contents. books that shaped my destiny. The
authors of the two left a legacy. ‘Read
32 KPSA Excellence March - May 2021
