KAMPALA, July 2, 2026 – In February 2020, the Ministry of Education and Sports [MoES], through the National Curriculum Development Centre [NCDC], introduced Uganda’s Competency-Based Curriculum [ CBC ], replacing the content-based curriculum that had been in place for more than three decades.
The previous curriculum was widely criticised for encouraging rote learning and memorisation. It focused largely on the transfer of knowledge from teachers to learners, producing graduates who often lacked practical skills and became job seekers rather than job creators.
The CBC seeks to reverse that trend by shifting the emphasis from “What do you know?” to “What can you do with what you know?” Rather than simply memorising facts, learners are expected to develop practical skills, values and competencies that can be applied in everyday life and the workplace. For instance, instead of recalling the date when John Hanning Speke arrived in East Africa, a learner may be required to prepare a report on baking a cake, making liquid soap or carrying out another practical task.
Despite its noble intentions, the introduction of the new lower secondary curriculum attracted criticism from parents, teachers trained under the previous system, civil society organisations and other education stakeholders. Many questioned whether schools had the capacity to implement such a practical curriculum.
In response, the Ministry maintained that the reforms were informed by extensive research and were intended to address youth unemployment by equipping learners with practical and entrepreneurial skills before they leave school. The Ministry also argued that significant public resources had been invested in designing the curriculum and developing appropriate implementation strategies.
To facilitate the transition, the NCDC has continued to organise training workshops across the country for teachers and school administrators. These sessions focus mainly on classroom delivery, learner assessment, evaluation and grading under the new system.
However, the gap between policy and reality remains significant.
Although government and development partners have supplied learning materials to government, government-aided and some private schools, many institutions, particularly privately owned schools with limited financial resources, still face acute shortages of textbooks and other learning materials. Some schools possess textbooks for optional subjects such as Chinese or Kiswahili but have very few copies for compulsory subjects, especially the sciences.
This shortage undermines one of the central pillars of the Competency-Based Curriculum, which places greater emphasis on practical learning than on theoretical instruction.
Science laboratories present another major challenge. Many private schools have inadequate laboratory equipment, making it difficult for learners to carry out the experiments required under the curriculum. The situation is even more concerning in computer laboratories, where technology is expected to play a central role in developing learners’ digital skills.
In some schools, only four out of ten computers may be operational, serving as many as 300 learners. This translates into one functioning computer for every 75 students, making meaningful practical lessons almost impossible. The challenge is even greater in rural schools that lack reliable electricity, where computer studies often remain largely theoretical despite the curriculum’s practical orientation.
The cost of implementing the curriculum also places considerable pressure on schools and parents. Producing practical projects and other learning materials requires financial resources that many schools cannot afford, forcing them to pass the costs on to parents. This has increased the financial burden on households that are already struggling with school fees and other education expenses.
Equally concerning is the confusion surrounding the new grading system. Many parents do not fully understand how learner performance is assessed. Some celebrate when their child obtains a “Result 1”, believing it represents the highest grade, even though the learner may not have attained any A or B grades, with the highest subject grade being a C. Some private schools exploit this misunderstanding by marketing “Result 1” as the equivalent of a first grade, when in reality it simply indicates that the learner has successfully completed the lower secondary cycle and qualifies to progress to the next level. It is not necessarily an indication of outstanding academic performance.
The Competency-Based Curriculum is also highly demanding for teachers. Unlike the previous system, it requires educators to give individual attention to every learner in order to identify their strengths, talents and competencies. A learner who struggles academically may excel in creativity, problem-solving, leadership, innovation or co-curricular activities. Identifying and nurturing these abilities requires adequate time, resources and manageable class sizes.
Without sufficient support, teachers may find it difficult to realise the curriculum’s objective of producing learners equipped with practical skills that can sustain them even if they do not proceed to university.
If the Competency-Based Curriculum is to achieve its intended outcomes, implementation challenges must be addressed with the same urgency that accompanied its introduction. Since it is a national curriculum, government support should extend beyond public schools to include private institutions, which educate a significant proportion of Uganda’s learners. Assistance should include textbooks, science laboratory equipment, computers and reliable access to electricity where possible.
Private schools should also explore partnerships with non-governmental organisations, development partners and alumni associations to mobilise resources for improving learning facilities. At the same time, teacher capacity-building should continue through regular online and face-to-face training, particularly on learner assessment and competency-based instruction.
Finally, schools should regularly engage parents through meetings and sensitisation programmes to explain the new curriculum and grading system. A well-informed parent is better placed to support a child’s learning journey.
The Competency-Based Curriculum has the potential to transform Uganda’s education system by producing graduates with practical skills, creativity and an entrepreneurial mindset. However, unless schools are adequately equipped with the resources required for effective implementation, the curriculum risks remaining an excellent policy whose promise is undermined by the realities on the ground.
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