With just weeks before the academic term begins for senior five students on February 29, an audit has revealed critical gaps in the rollout of the revised Higher Secondary Curriculum.
The findings expose delays in curriculum development and a severe teacher training shortfall, raising concerns about the readiness of the education system to accommodate the 2024 senior four candidates, whose results were recently released.
The National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC), tasked with implementing the revised curriculum, has made little progress.
Out of 19 essential processes required for full implementation, only six have been completed, three are in progress, and ten remain untouched.
Key pending tasks include refining syllabuses, finalizing assessment methods, printing and distributing materials for 29 subjects, and providing comprehensive teacher training.
These delays threaten the curriculum’s timely implementation, potentially leaving students unprepared for the transition.
Compounding the problem, teacher training efforts have fallen short. Out of a planned 130,055 secondary school teachers, only 81,495—just 63%—have been trained.
This leaves 48,560 teachers without the necessary skills to deliver the new curriculum, raising fears of inconsistencies in teaching and assessment.
With students transitioning from a competency-based curriculum to a new system that remains incomplete, the risk of educational disruption looms large.
The audit urges the NCDC to accelerate curriculum finalization, ensuring materials are ready for the new school term.
It also calls on the Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES) to intensify teacher training efforts, including exploring online learning to reach the untrained teachers before classes resume.
Without swift intervention, the education of thousands of students could suffer, undermining the long-term goals of the curriculum reform.
