The Ministry of Education has advised private schools that have not yet implemented the new lower secondary school curriculum not to risk the future of their students.
According to Enoch Kiyemba, a senior education officer in Luweero district, the new curriculum has existed for a long time.
He added that schools that are ignoring it are wasting their time and putting the future of the students at risk.
“In many schools, the new curriculum is still hard to implement. I want to encourage you where it has been challenging to find ways and means, but ensure that this new curriculum is adhered to,” Kiyemba warned.
Kiyemba, who was officiating at the commissioning of a classroom block donated by the MTN Foundation to Horizon High School in Luweero District, advised head teachers to focus on addressing the challenges in the curriculum instead of ignoring them.
Government rolled out the new lower secondary education curriculum in February 2020 with the aim of creating and meeting learners needs, especially in regard to skill training and enhancement.
The National Curriculum Development Center made adjustments in the teaching of subjects for lower secondary; for example, teaching subjects were reduced from 43 to 21 at Senior one and two. Out of which 11 will be compulsory while one will be from an elective menu (optional).
“Students at levels three and four will exit with a minimum of eight or a maximum of nine subjects, with seven of them compulsory, as the new curriculum demands,” he added.
The new pedagogy aims at providing learners with 21st-century skills such as critical thinking, creativity, collaboration or teamwork, communication, information literacy, ICT, and flexibility.
The current curriculum requires teachers to compile learners’ achievements under the formative assessment in the four-year cycle, find an average score, and submit it to the Uganda National Examinations Board to contribute at least 20 percent in the final national examinations grading.
Languages like Chinese were added to the syllabus of foreign languages, while Kiswahili, physical education, and entrepreneurship are mandatory for all students in Senior one and two.