A stressed parent counts expenses and reviews bills for mandatory school projects, field trips, craft materials and digital devices required under the Competency Based Curriculum/ AI generated photo.When Uganda introduced the lower secondary competence-based curriculum, the idea was to move learning away from memorisation and encourage learners to apply knowledge through practical activities, problem-solving and creativity.But years into its implementation, some teachers and ministry officials say a lack of understanding of the curriculum is turning CBC into an expensive exercise, with schools demanding costly materials and projects from learners in the name of developing competencies.Parents say the situation has created additional financial pressure, with some being asked to buy materials for science projects, exhibitions and classroom activities.For instance, Ann Kamoga, a parent from Wakiso, said some schools present CBC-related requirements as compulsory expenses. “Every term there is something new we are asked to provide. They tell us it is because of the new curriculum, but many parents do not understand whether these things are necessary or not,” the parent said.Teachers also acknowledged that some of their colleagues struggle to interpret the curriculum requirements and instead resort to expensive projects that require parents to spend more money, even when simpler locally available materials would achieve the same learning outcomes. Evas Katusiime, a headteacher at Adelante Africa SS in Kakumiro district, said some schools and teachers have misunderstood CBC, believing that successful implementation requires sophisticated materials and elaborate projects.“Some teachers think competency-based learning means every learner must come with expensive materials or create complex projects. Yet the curriculum encourages creativity and the use of available resources. The problem is a lack of understanding,” the headteacher said. She added that many teachers lack creativity to look around them for materials to teach learners from within their environment.Katusiime added that when it comes to projects and related things, some teachers dont help learners to think creatively but rather copy and paste things from the so-called top schools.Josephine Naggayi, an Entrepreneurship teacher at Master Cares Christian High School in Kyotera, acknowledged that the competence-based curriculum has introduced additional practical activities compared to the previous curriculum, some of which require learning materials.However, Naggayi agreed with Katusiime that the biggest challenge is not the curriculum itself but how some teachers interpret it. She said many teachers are reluctant to think creatively and make use of resources available within their surroundings.Naggayi added that some teachers continue to copy activities from other schools without considering whether they suit their own communities or the resources available locally.She, however, said the situation is gradually improving as more teachers gain a better understanding of the competence-based curriculum. Instead of relying on expensive materials, many are beginning to use resources from their immediate surroundings and adapting them to help learners acquire the required competencies.Geoffrey Namisi, a national trainer on the competence-based curriculum, attributed the perception that CBC is expensive to the way many teachers were trained.Namisi said teachers educated under the conventional system were rarely encouraged to use locally available resources, making the transition to learner-centred teaching more difficult.The teacher trainer maintained that the curriculum itself is not costly to implement.Instead, effective delivery depends on proper lesson planning, improvisation and making use of the local environment, rather than relying on expensive teaching materials.Education experts argue that the competence-based curriculum does not require expensive materials but requires teachers to design activities that allow learners to demonstrate skills using available resources.Gonzaga Kaswarra, an educationist, said the Competency Based Curriculum was introduced to nurture creativity, critical thinking and problem solving, not to increase the cost of education for families.“The purpose of CBC is to help learners apply knowledge in practical ways. A teacher should be able to use locally available materials and the environment around the learner. When schools demand expensive items, it points to a gap in how the curriculum is being interpreted and implemented,” he said.The Ministry of Education and Sports has consistently identified teacher training as a key pillar of CBC implementation. Kaswarra said many teachers still need more practical support to fully understand how to deliver competency-based lessons without shifting unnecessary costs to parents.Kaswarra acknowledged that CBC is more resource-intensive than the previous curriculum because it places greater emphasis on practical learning and continuous assessment. He argued, however, that government funding to schools has not been reviewed to match these additional demands, leaving many institutions struggling to implement the curriculum as intended.Kaswarra also accused some private schools of exploiting the transition to CBC by using the curriculum to justify extra charges. He said some schools attach almost any additional requirement to CBC, turning the reform into a revenue-generating opportunity rather than an educational improvement, a practice he warned is driving up the cost of education for parents.-URNThe post The Hidden Costs of Competency-Based Learning: How Poor Implementation is Punishing Parents appeared first on Business Focus.