On Tuesday, Sseninde insisted that government will not halt the implementation of the new curriculum, saying it will be applied to Senior One students. She tabled sample books of the revised curriculum before parliament chaired by the Speaker, Rebecca Kadaga.
Parliament has halted the implementation of
the revised lower secondary curriculum, which among others scraps termly
examinations. The decision followed an extensive debate on the ministerial statement presented by the Primary
Education State Minister, Rosemary Sseninde on the matter during plenary on
Tuesday.
Last week, the Deputy Speaker of parliament, Jacob Oulanyah directed the Education minister to address
Parliament on the implementation of the new curriculum scheduled to start this term.
The curriculum was developed by the National Curriculum Development Centre
(NCDC).
The new curriculum replaces termly exams with projects that
students will undertake every end of topic. Teachers will then be required to
note the student’s progress before any other topic is introduced. However,
teachers will be administering end of year exams in order to give feedback to
parents and guardians.
Prior to the presentation of the statement, on Monday a
group of legislators called on government to halt the implementation of the new
curriculum on grounds that some vital subjects had been made optional and that
there were not sufficient consultations.
However, on Tuesday, Sseninde
insisted that government will not halt the implementation of the new curriculum,
saying it will be applied to Senior One students. She tabled sample books of
the revised curriculum before parliament chaired by the Speaker, Rebecca
Kadaga.
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She asked parliament to supports the Education Ministry to
implement the new curriculum so that it improves the country’s Education and
improve what children learn.
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According to Sseninde, the current curriculum was designed in
the 1960s mainly to produce human resource for white collar jobs. She however said
government has a different development agenda to address the country’s
transformation.
“We note that lower secondary level is still Basic education.
Learners are exposed to a variety of subjects to widen their scope of thinking
and enable their intellectual ability to grow. The cognitive growth is enhanced
through exposure among other things. At this level we are not yet going into
career paths but exposed to what one can pick interest in or is about to do.
The curriculum is competence Based aimed at exposing the learners to issues of
creativity and innovativeness and emphasizes values which have been a
challenge,” reads part of Sseninde’s statement.
She said that major changes in the curriculum are the
methodologies, emphasis on values, assessment modalities, reduction on
instruction time from 8:00am to 2:55pm and compulsory teaching of Kiswahili
among other things.
“The materials have all been developed including the senior
one textbook which is being used to kick start the implementation of the lower
secondary curriculum. The distribution is ongoing in preparation for the senior
one who are reporting on 17th February 2020. The process for procurement of
textbook from publishers is on-going and the books for senior one and two are
expected to be supplied in July,” said Sseninde.
Parliament also learnt that private school
teachers have been included in the curriculum review process and that some of
their staff participated in its development.
“Some of them have been trained as master
trainers and they are now participating in the training of the 20,000 teachers
nationwide. Government has issued all syllabus books to private schools free of
charge, they have also been supplied with the necessary instructional
materials,” She explained.
Her submission generated a heated
debate that lasted for over 5 hours with several legislators cautioning government
against rushing the implementation of the new curriculum without the required
human resource and providing adequate time for the transition.
The Shadow Education Minister, Mathias Mpuuga, said what
government developed cannot pass for a curriculum reforms but a small
adjustment in the curriculum. He maintained that government wasn’t ready to
implement the curriculum, saying it should be rolled back.
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He wondered why the Education Ministry was in panic, saying
that one cannot talk about a change in assessment without taking time to
develop assessment tools and adequately prepare the trainers how to do so.
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Kira Municipality MP, Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda said that the
new curriculum has caused confusion in schools.
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The Igara East MP, Michael
Mawanda questioned why government was not giving time to schools to understand
the new curriculum before rushing its implementation.
The Speaker also questioned whether teachers
upcountry were being trained.
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The Budadiri West MP Nathan Nandala
Mafabi moved a motion for the suspension of the implementation of the new
curriculum implementation until MPs are satisfied with it and adequate consultations
are made with all stakeholders.
He was seconded by the Kasilo
County MP, Okupa Elijah and Kiboga East MP, Keffa Kiwanuka. MP unanimously voted suspending the curriculum
implementation when the speaker put the matter to a vote.
