No major changes were made to new A-level curriculum – NCDC

The National Curriculum Development Center (NCDC) has disputed ongoing reports that significant changes have been made to the newly adapted A-level curriculum.

Instead, the teaching approaches have shifted from a traditional teacher-centred method to a more interactive and leaner-centered one – just as students are taught under the new O-level curriculum, writes YUDAYA NANGONZI.

The clarification came during an online training session held last week during which head teachers across the country received insights and adapted A-level curriculum.

The training also targeted deputy head teachers and directors of studies to ensure a smooth transition for teachers and the pioneer cohort of students of the revised O-level curriculum who sat their final examinations in 2024.

However, not all head teachers were accommodated in the online session due to automatic limitations for numbers on the Zoom meeting.

According to Gilbert Siima, the manager of the secondary department at NCDC, the curriculum body wanted to ensure that students find a similar curriculum model at the Advanced Level. In his opening remarks, Siima reiterated that NCDC had made no major changes in content.

The old A-level curriculum content was only reviewed to match the competency-based model.

“The newly adapted A-level curriculum will be ready for use by the time senior five students report back to school soon,” Siima said.

“Head teachers are key towards capacity building and ensuring that the curriculum is well implemented. We shall organize follow-up meetings to cater to those who could have missed this crucial meeting,” Siima said.

Siima explained that the focus is no longer solely on the transfer of knowledge from teacher to student, but on empowering students to take control of their learning.

The adapted curriculum also emphasizes a shift from rote learning to a dynamic interaction where students actively engage with the material, question assumptions, and learn to apply their knowledge in real-world situations.

WHAT IS NEW?

Since the inception of A-level in 1954, the delivery of content harboured similar challenges as those identified in the lower secondary before its review. The teacher has been in charge of delivering knowledge and students were expected to absorb and regurgitate this information.

During the online training session, Wilson Ssaabavuma, a curriculum specialist at NCDC, said they embarked on overhauling the A-level curriculum. However, this was not achieved due to funding constraints yet the pioneers of the O-level curriculum were due to progress to A-level this month.

“To avoid a system shock, we came up with an intervention of reviewing the existing syllabuses at A-level by modifying the content to remove content overloads, obsolete, and overlaps to meet the current demands of the A-level program,” Ssaabavuma said.

“We have generally given learners a hybrid of the existing curriculum so that the two years they will spend in school are smooth and more meaningful.”

He insisted that A-level will continue to last two years, not five or seven as had been suggested by various stakeholders during suggestions to the just-concluded overall education sector reforms.

When a further analysis of the curriculum was done, NCDC experts also adjusted the assessment methods to focus on the application of knowledge and skills to avert gaps faced in the preceded curriculum.

Teachers will not only award marks but also be expected to give descriptive recordings of learners’ achievements. Some of the content that was shelved at the O-level and labelled “advanced” at that stage has since been incorporated into the A-level curriculum.

Ssaabavuma said the subjects on the A-level menu have also remained the same. However, subjects like Performing Arts, Nutrition and Food Technology, Art and Design that exit on the revised O-level curriculum have not been brought on board at A-level.

Learners will study the same but modified content as in the old A-level curriculum in subjects such as Music, Food and Nutrition, Technical Drawing, and Fine Art.

While Physical Education is taught at O-level, the subject has not been introduced at A-level because “there are no textbooks that support its teaching and learning at A-level”

The A-level curriculum has also been maintained with three principal subjects, one subsidiary subject, and General Paper as a compulsory subject.

When some head teachers online asked whether the number of papers per subject had been changed, Siima responded: “This is still a work in progress but for now, the number of papers may remain or reduce because this change is informed by what is being assessed. Teachers will continue to use the same textbooks but syllabus documents will be shared online [on the NCDC website] and later hard copies will be sent to schools as soon as the minister of Education signs them.”

With a reduction in the number of topics at A-level in subjects, Ssaabavuma warned about the redundancy of teachers; they are now expected to teach two subjects except those of double main contents.

He cited subjects like History with six papers and Geography with three papers – all taught by different teachers yet one teacher can afford to teach all the papers.

THE PRACTICAL ELEMENT

“The situation is worse in science subjects where some teachers have been handling one aspect of a subject like practicals and then be free the rest of the day. In the adapted curriculum, every subject has a practical element whether arts or sciences. If a teacher is redundant, head teachers must redeploy them because secondary teachers are trained to teach at least two subjects not just one paper of a given subject,” he said.

Ssaabavuma noted the NCDC will soon organize training for teachers on the delivery of the adapted curriculum. Just like at O-level, learners will also continue with Activities of Integration (AOI) and do project work, and problem–solving tasks using locally available materials within or near the school.

Schools with large classes were tasked to divide learners into groups to ease the learning process. The new adapted A-level curriculum will accommodate three categories of senior five students this year; pioneers of the new O-level curriculum, students who sat the S4 2024 exams under the old curriculum, and those who studied S5 last year but are repeating the class due to poor performance.

nangonzi@observer.ug