By Nelson Kiva
In a bid to provide quality education, the education ministry revised the lower secondary school curriculum.
The National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC) in a January 23, 2020 circular commissioned the new curriculum designed to reduce content overload, contact hours in the classroom, foster learner-centred pedagogy, competence-based approach and criterion-referenced assessment.
However, on March 20, 2020, education institutions were closed as one of the measures to stem the spread of COVID-19 pandemic. The schools were fully reopened on January 10, 2022.
This means there was not enough time for teachers to undergo re-skilling to handle the competence-based curriculum.
“So, New Vision came in to fill the gap and ensure interventions that would ensure continuity of learning during the lockdown,” John Eremu, the New Vision editor, said.
STUDY MATERIALS
According to Eremu, New Vision and other Vision Group platforms revamped education programmes and publications with the approval of NCDC to deliver on the new curriculum.
The interventions, according to Eremu, included printing and sending learning materials to aid continued education during the lockdown.
The materials delivered through New Vision and other Vision Group platforms daily, do not only benefit the learners, but also teachers since most of them are yet to be trained in the new curriculum.
This is in line with New Vision’s mission of enhancing society because we believe that once we have a literate society, a society of useful citizens, a society where everybody is happy, a society where everybody can do something for themselves, then we shall have less conflicts, a productive population and, therefore, prosperity,” Eremu said.
Late last year, New Vision conducted competence-based examinations for Senior One and Senior Two, which were aimed at informing the decisions of parents and other stakeholders ahead of the schools reopening in January. Bukedde end-of-lockdown exams benefited learners from Top Class in nursery school to Primary Seven.
UGANDA: BUILDING OF A NATION
Vision Group in the latest book, Uganda: Building of A Nation is contributing to history, political education and general paper new curriculum.
“It aids students studying history, political education and general paper in secondary schools and also relevant to all young people who can read. It is a simplified version of the curriculum without losing the gist so that young learners appreciate Uganda’s journey since its formation in the 1880s. However, it is not only a book to use in classrooms, but also prepared as a students’ companion,” Barbara Kaija, the Vision Group editor-in-chief, said in her foreward.
In 2012, as part of Uganda’s 50th Independence anniversary, Vision Group published the first edition of Uganda: Building of A Nation, profiling individuals who have made a significant contribution towards the building of a nation with a diverse history, cultures and people into one.
The content has been enriched, while the language was simplified in line with the country’s aspiration for a curriculum that is relevant to its pupils and with an Afro-centric narrative.
“It is the realisation of our mortality that inspired us at Vision Group to document and tell Uganda’s story in such a way that all Ugandans, the ordinary and the elite can read and enjoy it,” she said.
The book, according to the circulation and copy sales manager, Gershom Agaba, was approved by NCDC as a school reference in history, political education and general paper.
According to Agaba, schools are encouraged to reach out to New Vision to get assistance on the content for the new curriculum in terms of teachers’ approach and students content.
TEXBOOKS
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 for secondary school, as well as revision books for Primary Six and Primary even.
The textbooks can be accessed at all New Vision agents and bookshops country wide.
“To order, call or send a whatsapp message to 0704344761,” Agaba said.
OUTREACHES
According to Esther Arinaitwe, the media in education manager at Vision Group, on top of having study materials, exam papers and content on the new curriculum on radios and televisions, they have also had outreaches with experts to engage with schools on the new curriculum.
“We have also hosted programmes on TV West, TV East, Bukedde TV and all our radio stations to further explain the new curriculum,” Arinaitwe said.
In addition, the Mwalimu pull-out and other education products are consistently covering the different aspects of the new curriculum, for example, the roles of the different stakeholders, the competencies the new curriculum is focusing on, how the assessment will be done, among others.
RESILIENT ISSUES IN THE CURRICULUM
The deputy director at NCDC, Bernadette Karuhanga, said the curriculum is de-phasing application of the knowledge that the learners have acquired.
In the new curriculum she said some subjects were merged to avoid repetition, while others they felt were no longer useful to Uganda were replaced. She added that there have been amendments in the assessment by introducing school-based/ formative or class-based assessment.
“All learners are expected to be assessed as they learn and the teachers are expected to record the problems of learners. That assessment will be contributing 20% of the total marks at the end of Senior Four,” she said.
The curriculum introduced assessment for the world of work, which will be conducted by the Directorate of Industrial Training (DIT) and, according Karuhanga, they have started with eight vocational subjects. They include Physical Education, Performing Arts, Art and Design, Technology and Design, Food and Nutrition, among others.
“At the end of S.3, the learners will be assessed by DIT and they will be given a certificate of level one of competence. Then for end of cycle assessment by UNEB, we shall look at the knowledge and the application. The questions will be scenario questions,” she said.
COMMENDATION
Fredrick Ssentumbwe, a headteacher, thanked Vision Group for the support in regard to the new curriculum.
“I am happy that our school hosted the experts from New Vision to discuss with our teachers the new curriculum and checking on how our learners and teachers were coping with the curriculum,” Ssentumbwe said.
He said they had a difficulty of adjusting to the new curriculum.
“The new curriculum involves preparation, involves a lot of planning, involves looking for locally available materials to use in the lesson. This has made it tougher for teachers, especially scientists who teach in multiple schools,” he said.
He said they were conducting teachers’ trainings in addition to talking to them to adjust to the new curriculum. Ronald Jjagwe, a teacher of economics and entrepreneurship and one of the education experts of Vision Group, said they were happy to be part of the transformation in the education system.
“In this new curriculum, learners are the decision makers while teachers are facilitators of the learning process,” he said.
According to the acting director of DIT, Patrick Byakatonda, New Vision’s Pakasa content was well in line with the new curriculum.
“This curriculum is preparing learners for the world of work; we have so many interventions, for instance in Harvest Money,” he said.
BACKGROUND
Even before the new curriculum, Vision Group, according to Eremu had taken the lead in democratising the setting of examinations and assessment, to ensure that learners from schools in rural areas could equally have advantage when it comes to examination approach.
