By Regina Kakuba,
Communications Intern,
ICPAU
At least 400,000 Ugandans graduate every year, but only about a fraction of these are absorbed into the job market, creating a massive unemployment problem. Pundits have described Uganda’s education system as being the cause of unemployment in Uganda, and hence the need to re-think the education framework.
In 2020, the government rolled out a new competence-based curriculum for the lower secondary level.
While delivering a presentation on reforms in the education curriculum at the 11th CPA Economic Forum, Mr Christopher Muganga the Curriculum Specialist at the National Curriculum Development Centre explained that the reforms in the education curriculum were informed by the need to address; education equity, global competitiveness, relevance to socio-economic needs, technological advancement, 21st century skills, and change in assessment.
A co-presenter on the topic, Mr Ndebesa Mwambutsya, a History and Development Studies lecturer argued that the education curriculum should be designed to develop creative competences among learners.
“Creative competences are the 21st century competences for job creation, and these competences should either be promoted as part of co-curricular activities or integrated in all other subjects both arts and sciences,” said Mr Mwambutsya.
He described the creative industry as being divided into two categories; cultural creative industry (entertainment) and digital creative industry.
According to Mr Mwambutsya the digital creative industry includes but is not limited to; design, fashion, graphics, web designing, animations, advertising, branding, fine arts, crafts, e-commerce, publishing, blogging, and various IT communications design solutions, while the cultural creative industry (entertainment) includes but is not limited to; music, dance and drama, theatre, comedy, sport, film, video games, radio, television, reality television, organising concerts, master of ceremonies roles, and acrobatics.
Mr Mwambutsya referenced the saber-tooth curriculum which emphasises a transformation in the adaptations to way of life, with respect to the changing environment.
In the saber-tooth curriculum, the professors and traditionalists protested a new way of life despite the transition to the ice age which had rendered the old fishing and hunting habits redundant. Consequently, the society had continued to suffer until they accepted the new innovations and solved their problems.
He noted that a relevant education curriculum should draw lessons from the sabre tooth curriculum.
“A relevant curriculum should align and attune education to: new changing demands and challenges, challenges of nation building and creating a cohesive society, democracy promotion, fighting corruption, fighting pandemics and other health challenges, promoting food security, social justice including gender balance, fighting poverty, 21st technology and labour demands, and the challenges and opportunities of globalisation,” said Mr Mwambutsya.
“We are polarised in Uganda, therefore, the new curriculum should teach people how to live together and address nation building lest we become like other war-prone countries in the region,” he said.
He described the purpose of education as challenging misconceptions to destabilise everyday truth and sharpen the capacity to question existing conventions and assumptions, and advised that the education sector should be adequately resourced to implement the new curriculum, with recruitment and capacity building of teachers, building enough classrooms, and well equipped laboratories.
He further urged the government to address the contradictions that could impede the implementation of the new curriculum, such as, inconsistencies in government policy, where science teachers are favoured against arts teachers, the ban on some social media sites like Facebook, and discrimination on religious grounds.
According to Mr Mwambutsya, results of an AliVE Initiative research study on the outcome of education in East Africa (Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Zanzibar) reveal a decline in the performance of Uganda’s education sector. The research study was assessing the problem solving competences of teenagers and Uganda was ranked the lowest.
Curriculum reforms in Uganda date as far back as 1880 when the formal curriculum for primary education targeted the development of reading and writing skills. Education was in the hands of voluntary organisations especially the christian missionaries. Secondary education followed in 1918 and in 1925 the government starting to exercise control over education.
The first curriculum reform was undertaken in 1963, and from 1964 to 1966 a national standard curriculum for both primary and secondary schools in Uganda was instituted. The National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC) was established in 1973, to streamline curriculum development in Uganda, and later the Government White Paper of 1992 was written with recommendations aimed at reforming the education sector. The government is implementing the reforms to date.
The 11th CPA Economic Forum is being held from 19 – 21 July 2023 at the Imperial Resort Beach Hotel, Entebbe, under the theme, National Priorities for Socio-Economic Development.
Organised by the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Uganda (ICPAU), the CPA Economic Forum was introduced in 2012 to provide a platform for dialogue on matters concerning the economy. From the deliberations policy recommendations are derived, which are forwarded to the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, for consideration in the national budgeting processes. The policy recommendations from this Forum are intended for the 2024/25 national budgeting process which commences in September.
