(Published on Wednesday, January 26, 2022)
By Godfrey Ojore
“If we had learnt of it early enough, our learners would have followed it during the lockdown. As a school, we embrace it wholeheartedly,” Bertha Asekenye, the headteacher of Jeressar High School in Soroti, said.
Asekenye said the new curriculum is hands-on and will be more beneficial to the learners than the old one.
The Government rolled out the new curriculum in 2020, but it hit a snag when schools were closed due to the outbreak of COVID-19.
Martine Okiria Obore, the headteacher of Soroti Senior Secondary School, who also doubles as the chairperson of the Secondary School Headteachers’ Association, welcomed the new curriculum.
“It is going to impart the needed skills to the learners and the teachers will complete the syllabus sooner. By the end of Senior Four, a learner will be equipped with skills that can help the community,” Okiria said.
“We would like the Uganda National Examinations Board to clarify further on how the assessment is going to be done,” Okiria appealed.
The headteacher of Erimu College in Soroti city, Steve Ejjuu Anuku, said the new curriculum will see each learner return home with a skill that can sustain them.
“We are implementing the new curriculum, having received textbooks that guide our teachers. Our teachers also benefited from the training on how to handle the new curriculum and, so far so good,” Ejjuu said.
David Okedi, the director of studies at Soroti Secondary School, said the initiative by the Government was a well-thought out idea because the new curriculum aims at imparting skills to learners as opposed to the old one that emphasised theory.
“We are currently implementing it. We regret the time lost due to the lockdown; the fruit of this curriculum would be ripening now,” Okedi said.
He emphasised the need by the Government to increase the number of textbooks to be used by the teachers for guiding students to facilitate the process to run smoothly.
Rebecca Aanyu, a teacher of religious education at Erimu College, expressed gratitude to the brains behind the new curriculum.
“It involves students’ participation, which makes them not only knowledgeable, but also skilful. I enjoy teaching now because the curriculum gives learners an opportunity to discuss and my role as the teacher is to guide them and encourage them,” she said.
Simon Emoru Anango, the inspector of schools in Soroti district, said the curriculum has been embraced.
“The old curriculum was examination-oriented and not competence-based. With the current arrangement, the learners are able to get both theory and the practical aspect of the learning well,” he said.
What Learners Say
Alice Tama Apolot, a Senior Two student of Jeressar High School, said: “Had it not been for the COVID-19 pandemic, we would be more skilful because we are the pioneers of the new curriculum. Teachers no longer give us a lot of notes. The current teaching methods require us to think a lot as opposed to cramming notes.”
Daizy Adio, a Senior Two student of Jeressar High School, said: “There is freedom in the new curriculum because it gives us an opportunity to explore many things, not just the teachers’ notes.”
Sofia Birike, a Senior Two student of Erimu College, said: “The new curriculum gives us enough time to brainstorm and share ideas with our teachers in a friendly way, which is interesting. Teachers encourage us to think outside the box.”
Teddy Akullo, a Senior Two student of Soroti Secondary School, said: “The competence-based curriculum has given us a chance to interact a lot and through that, we are able to discover our abilities.”
Making Material Available
New Vision supports competence-based curriculum
Weekly Publications
To support with the implementation of the competence-based curriculum, the New Vision starting this month is publishing related lesson materials.
The lessons are targeting students in Senior One and Senior Two and are published from Monday to Saturday.
The eight core subjects that New Vision is publishing include mathematics, English, physics, chemistry, biology, Kiswahili, geography and entrepreneurship.
The competence-based curriculum seeks to ensure that teachers and learners relate textbook knowledge to real life.
Therefore, the lessons involve several activities in the various subjects for the learners to perform, relate to their communities and base on to solve problems, instead of memorising teachers’ notes.
Textbooks
Working with a team of expert teachers, Vision Group has also published textbooks highly ranked by the Ministry of Education and Sports for the new competence-based curriculum and they will be at all our sales outlets by the end of this month.
To book newspapers and textbooks, WhatsApp: 0774605377.
Parents Have Their Say On New Curriculum
Angela Amuge, Soroti district
If such an arrangement were introduced earlier, I would not be a housewife. I would have also learnt a skill that should have helped me today. I completed primary school and returned home empty. If learning skills was initiated right from primary to secondary school, we would be having a few peasants now.
Robert Opolot
The Government must be appreciated for this excellent initiative. If we had the opportunity to learn skills, I would not have wasted four years in secondary school studying things that have not helped me. I would have qualified early as a builder and that would have saved my money.
Eng. Matrine Onguruco, Serere district
The competence-based curriculum is a welcome idea because our old system was not very helpful to the learner or the community. We should not end at having it on paper but go the extra mile to equip schools and facilitate the learners to practise what they learn.
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