This article was first published on the New Vision Website on April 11, 2023
By Ibrahim Ruweza
Teachers have raised concerns over the new curriculum, claiming that it is not well-funded. They are afraid that the whole idea of conducting and assessing learners in a practical format may not be as successful as anticipated.
Daniel Isabirye, a teacher of entrepreneurship at Makerere University School, said from the time the new curriculum was rolled out, it looked challenging because of its logistical requirements.
Isabirye said some schools do not have the facilities or tools to help learners take lessons practically.
“The technical matters of all subjects are difficult to implement; it is still theoretical, just like the old curriculum,” he said.
Isabirye noted that students come up with expensive projects, and schools cannot afford to fund them all at once.
“Most school administrations are running on a limited budget,” he said.
The Education Policy Review Commission team, chaired by Amanya Mushega, is carrying out public consultations with different schools and other stakeholders over several issues in the education and sports sectors to generate recommendations and draft a White Paper framework for education and sports services. Recently, the team was at Makerere University School.
Jacqueline Shifra Agaba, a literature teacher at Makerere University School, said to make the new curriculum successful, the implementors would have to do a feasibility survey in each school.
“They need to survey to establish if the schools have the facilities to run the new curriculum that they rolled out or the way they want the new curriculum handled,” she said.
Martin Muyingo, the headteacher of Makerere University School, said since the enrolment of the new curriculum, the school has had inadequate resources to fully implement it.
He explained that the education ministry provides a budget framework for educational materials, which is not sufficient to undertake all the individual projects of learners.
Muyingo said the new curriculum can only succeed if the government works together with parents and other stakeholders to provide the needed resources.
However, he said the execution of projects and lessons may not be a problem, although some teachers still find it challenging.
Br Sliaco Turyatemba, a headteacher at Caltec Academy in Makerere, Kampala, said the school has not received textbooks for Senior Three, which has forced him to teach learners using books from the old curriculum.
“This term, we are using books from the old curriculum; we have tried to make follow-ups, but they say schools should wait,” he said.
The challenge of instructional materials is a general problem most schools are facing.
Turyatemba said teachers lack the experience to manage the new curriculum, which has forced him to hire experts to help teachers cope.
Moses Kirya, a headteacher in Nabiswa Kibuku district, said the new curriculum calls for the creativity of teachers.
Kirya said some projects need materials that can be sourced locally, but some other materials may need to be purchased, yet schools do not have a sufficient budget.
He said the new curriculum calls for new changes that most teachers are not ready for, which is why most teachers are still failing to adapt to it.
Recently, the National Curriculum Development Centre warned private schools over their failure to implement the new curriculum, saying most of them were more concerned with grades than with helping students understand what was being taught practically.
However, several school heads contacted said they lacked materials to use in the implementation of the new curriculum due to a limited budget.
Ministry speaks out
Dennis Mugimba, the spokesperson for the education ministry, admitted that it was true the resources the Government does not have enough resources to fully fund the new curriculum.
He advised schools to improvise with what is available as the Government looks into the issue.
Mugimba noted that going back to the old curriculum will affect learners’ performance because the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) will assess learners using a model aligned with the new curriculum.
“They are going to make children fail because UNEB will be assessing learners using the new curriculum.” It is unethical for teachers to resort to the old curriculum, claiming they do not have money,” he said.
