Deputy Speaker of Parliament Thomas Tayebwa and other MPs expressed dismay upon learning that current senior four students studying under the new curriculum for the Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) will revert to the old curriculum when they advance to upper secondary after sitting for national exams in November this year.
This situation is a stark contrast to the initial plan, where the current cohort introduced to the new curriculum in 2020 for O’level students was supposed to transition to A’level with it in 2025, with the old curriculum phased out by 2026.
When our reporter raised the transition issue back in 2022 to the ministry and the National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC), the officials then dismissed it as a “minor unforeseen issue,” but the matter has now become sticky and controversial, not only for students and schools, but also for parents and government itself.
The new curriculum prioritizes vocational skills development over exam results, with students earning scores of 1-3 in activities of integration which replaced classroom exercises and termly exams. It also emphasizes teamwork and cross-subject collaborations on projects, moving away from individualism and academic competition.
Appearing before parliament, Dr Joyce Moriku Kaduccu, the state minister in charge of Primary Education informed the house that the ministry and NCDC have not yet completed the A’level competence-based curriculum and that NCDC has initiated the review of the A’level curriculum to guarantee the continuation of enhanced teaching methods.
She said several preliminary activities have been undertaken in preparation for the review and implementation of the upper secondary competence-based curriculum. Among these activities is the conduct of an assessment study on the current A’ level curriculum to identify its inadequacies. Kaducu said the ministry is still consulting with various stakeholders to gather input and recommendations based on the findings.
“NCDC has developed A’level curriculum framework as part of an outcome-based education reform design which is aligned to the O’level framework. In addition to documents to guide the implementation, the ministry through NCDC has developed syllabus materials for the proposed 25 subjects to be offered at A’level,” she said.
According to Kaducu, the ministry is currently undergoing a quality assurance and approval process for the A’level curriculum, which will at a later date be presented to parliament for input. Deputy speaker Thomas Tayebwa expressed his displeasure about how the matter has been handled. He is of the view the review of A’level education has progressed at a slow pace.
Tayebwa wondered what would happen to learners in S.3 and S.4 who are required to choose A’level electives when they don’t have an idea what the structure of A’level will be when a new curriculum finally comes out. He noted that students’ choices are significantly influenced by their aspirations for the next level of education, which remains uncertain due to the lack of information on how A’level will be structured.
Kaducu informed the house that current S.4 learners will not transition to the competence-based curriculum when they get to upper secondary next year, as it will not be ready by then. This implies that they will continue their studies under the existing A’level curriculum.
“It is very clear that we’re not transiting from the new lower secondary competence-based curriculum to a new competence-based upper secondary curriculum. We’re moving from this very curriculum which is competence-based to the continuous curriculum of A’level,” said Kaducu.
This statement further confused members, and the speaker expressed concern about how learners who have been following the new lower curriculum will integrate into the existing A-level curriculum which serves totally different objectives.
“You have not answered it at all, the steps you have taken so far cannot address it because this is the time when my son is already in S.4, I expect to be knowing the combination he’s going to take. So now are there combinations? That is why honourable Harold said some schools are telling them that choose based on the current curriculum for A’level but when you read the steps that so far you have taken, you can see that you still have a long way to go for these learners to be able to catch up with the new curriculum if you’re still at the stakeholder engagement level, meeting so and so, what are we going to do,” said Tayebwa.
In response, Kaducu requested for more time to make further consultations so she could come back next week with comprehensive details regarding the matter of transition.
“I have put in a statement that a lot of work has been done as far as the new competence-based A’level curriculum is concerned, that is in the process. My statement is very clear. Mr speaker, I wish to implore you if you could allow, let me go back and consult government on this specific and then next week I could come back with conclusive information,” added Kaducu.
Nakut Faith Loru, Napak Woman MP proposed that the pioneer students of new curriculum be exempted from A’level and just be given certificates to join the university and other higher institutions of learning
“Our children who are in this experimental stage of the new curriculum be exempted from A’level. Yes, there are many countries that do not do A’level and their children go to the university. It is not in the interest of our children that they be experiments. It was not their choice that they be born late or be born to young parents. But for you your children are already graduates, you no longer care about those children of other people or because your children study international curriculum, you don’t care about the rest of us. You make these children go through all hell just because you’re experimenting.
Jonathan Odur, MP for Erute South criticized the ministry, saying that there was a lack of thorough debate and discussion on the competence-based curriculum when it was passed back in 2019. He said if stakeholders had been given the opportunity to raise concerns, some of the issues emerging now could have been foreseen and addressed in a timely manner.
“I want to appeal to government that when you have policies that are well-intentioned in the country, you should not hide it from the stakeholders because they are our children and these are the children we expect to to take the mantle from us. So we have actually put the cart before the horse and that is why we’re meeting these challenges. Even on the aspect of financing alone the ministry is grappling with financing to implement a programme they initiated themselves and you ask yourself is government thinking in reverse that you bring a good programme and you cannot finance it,” said Odur.
UCE 2023
Meanwhile, learners who sat the under the old curriculum last year and failed the exams will be granted a one-off chance to resit the papers so they can proceed to A‘level. This proposal is contained in a statement that Kaducu presented to parliament. However this too further raised more questions and concerns.
She said the exams will be conducted for those who sat for the 2023 UCE and voluntarily wish to retake the examination, perhaps to achieve better grades corresponding with the number of subjects they plan to undertake at the A’level.
The exams will also include those who registered but failed to sit for the examination and those who missed the registration for the 2023 examination due to various reasons. Another group that the plan addresses consists of adult learners who are studying independently or at any learning facility.
Based on the data, in previous years, an average of 6,000 students have consistently failed to appear for the UCE examinations despite having duly registered for them. Furthermore, there exists a group of students who do not excel in their exams and are recommended to retake the senior four level. For example, 15,756 students did not pass the Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) in 2022, and in 2020, some 18,415 candidates were unsuccessful.
Debating on the matter, John Twesigye, MP for Bunyabuguiru County, pointed out that during their interactions with the Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb) while approving the budget framework paper, Uneb officials mentioned that the examination would be conducted around June and July.
This implies that the board is providing learners only four months to prepare, register, and sit for the examination. And the learners who would be affected have not even received their examination results yet which are expected to be released this week. Twesigye asked the ministry to specify the dates for these examinations and the related processes.
URN has been informed that Uneb already communicated to the district education officers instructing them to register locations where these learners will be sitting their examinations. However, questions have arisen about what will transpire if a learner, for instance, who failed the 2023 examination, encounters an emergency, and misses the one-off examination.
Solomon Silwany, MP for Bukooli Central said the one-off exam being suggested by the ministry was insufficient. He expressed concerns that candidates might encounter issues again. He emphasizes that it should not be a singular opportunity but rather a continuous process.
“We’re aware that there are children who will sit and will not pass even with the second time. There will be children who will maybe be sick and will not be available to sit for these exams that one time. Will they be provided another opportunity to sit again because it cannot be a one-time offer and then close out the rest of the people?” said Silwany.
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