Secondary schools ordered to adopt revised curriculum for O-level

The National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC) has directed secondary schools to adopt the revised curriculum for O-level with immediate effect.

NCDC said that the new syllabus will now start with senior one learners expected to return to the classroom on Monday, April 12, 2021.

NCDC said that the new curriculum is based on practical methods of learning aimed at addressing the country's current human resource needs.

According to the director NCDC, Grace Baguma, the current education system although highly regarded, focuses on the needs of a tiny academically oriented elite yet the needs of the majority of learners need to be the focus.

"The Ministry of Education and Sports through the National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC) therefore undertook a review of the lower secondary curriculum aimed at providing a learning environment, opportunities, interactions, tasks and instructions that foster deep learning by putting the learner at the centre of the learning experience,"she said.

Baguma explained that the revised curriculum is competence based aimed at emphasising the development of the learner's ability 'to do rather than to know'.

All private schools were advised to adhere to the demands of the revised competence based curriculum and avoid mixing the revised curriculum with the old curriculum in senior one.

Baguma urged the Directorate of Education Standards (DES) and all district administrators to conduct regular school inspections to ensure that all schools teach senior one learners using the revised lower secondary curriculum.

She said master trainers should support teachers in their districts or regions in making them understand the curriculum deeper.

The Implementation of the revised lower secondary curriculum was designed to take on a phased approach starting with those admitted to senior one in 2020 but due to Covid-19 pandemic this did not happen.