As Uganda gears up to improve its education system, a long-awaited reform of the A-Level curriculum is back on the table.
After years of deliberation, the Ministry of Education and Sports has officially given the green light for the development of a new competency-based curriculum for A-Level students.
This move signals a significant shift from the traditional content-heavy syllabus to a more skills-oriented approach aimed at better preparing students for modern challenges in higher education and the workforce.
The push for curriculum reform, which has been a topic of debate for years, is now gaining momentum, with Education Minister Janet Kataha Museveni authorising the National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC) to proceed.
According to sources within the Ministry, this directive has set the stage for a potential roll-out of the revised curriculum as early as next year.
The reform is expected to emphasize practical skills, critical thinking, and adaptability, marking a transformative step for Uganda’s secondary education system.
Dr. Bernadette Nambi, the Deputy Director at the National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC), confirmed in a recent meeting with the Education Policy Review Commission that plans to finalize the new A-Level curriculum are underway.
She assured that the Centre will start working on it soon, to have it ready before the next academic year begins.
This comes after concerns arose about how students currently in Senior Four, who will take their final exams in two months, will move from the new lower secondary (O-Level) curriculum to the old knowledge-based A-Level system next year.
The NCDC started reviewing the upper secondary curriculum after launching the O-Level reforms in 2020 to ensure a smoother transition.
However, these efforts were delayed due to budget cuts caused by the economic strain of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Earlier this year, in February, Dr. Joyce Moriku Kaducu, the State Minister for Primary Education, informed Parliament that although the NCDC is still developing the new competence-based A-Level curriculum, it won’t be ready in time for the current Senior Four students who will move to A-Level next year.
The day after the announcement, Mrs. Museveni reassured the public that the Ministry of Education had consulted with experts in the sector.
They confirmed that students transitioning from the updated lower secondary curriculum to the existing A-Level system would not face any problems with understanding subjects or being prepared for higher education.
While there was an initial push to revise the A-Level curriculum, the ministry decided to slow down the process to focus more on fully implementing the revised lower secondary curriculum.
Before this decision, the National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC) had made some headway on the A-Level reforms, including conducting a needs assessment and consulting stakeholders.
A draft framework for the new curriculum had also been created, but progress stalled. Monica Abenakyo Monge from the Education Policy Review Commission raised concerns about whether the NCDC could realistically develop and roll out the new curriculum within the tight time frame.
With only a few months left before Senior Four students take their exams, the challenge of transitioning them to the new A-Level competence-based curriculum looms large.
Dr. Bernadette Nambi from NCDC admitted that they would work hard to meet deadlines but expressed concerns about missing key processes like validation and piloting, which are essential for the curriculum’s success.
She mentioned that experts would meet soon to tackle the current challenges, but warned that the new curriculum might face the same issues as the lower secondary rollout, such as inadequate teacher training and a lack of learning materials.
Dr. Godfrey Bakaira, a senior lecturer at Kyambogo University, echoed these concerns, noting that the Ministry seems to be addressing education issues in a fragmented way instead of planning proactively.
He warned that without proper steps like piloting, the new A-Level curriculum could face even greater challenges than the lower secondary one.
However, Dr. Betty Akullu Ezati, Dean of the School of Education at Makerere University, urged optimism, emphasizing that with proper teacher training, the rollout could still succeed.
She pointed out that the NCDC had successfully adapted during the COVID-19 pandemic, and with adequate support, they could do the same with the A-Level reforms.
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