Ugandan pupils in lower primary could spend a maximum of three hours a day in structured learning under a new competency-based curriculum (CBC) expected to be rolled out in 2028, National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC) has said.Dr Patrice Ssembirige, acting director of NCDC, said the proposed approach would limit structured learning time to cater for the developmental needs of young children.He said children aged three to four should be engaged for a maximum of two hours a day, while those aged four to five should spend about two to three hours in structured learning activities. Children aged five to six could spend about three hours.Ssembirige said young learners should not be subjected to excessively long school hours, arguing that the lower primary curriculum should take into account their developmental needs rather than treat them as “miniature secondary school students”.“These children have to be engaged for about 15-30 minutes at a time, so there is no need for them to be in school as early as 5 am. We are looking at the physical development of the learners, cognitive, language, social and emotional aspects,” he said.He said the early childhood curriculum had deliberately been kept light and remained under review as NCDC consults teachers and other stakeholders on what is appropriate for the different age groups.“Their curriculum is very light, and all these things are under review as we engage teachers. I hope they will understand what is relevant to this kind of age group,” Ssembirige said.The curriculum will focus on physical development, cognitive growth, language development, social skills and emotional development.Ssembirige said NCDC was undertaking extensive preparations before the curriculum is made available for public implementation, including subjecting new learning materials to rigorous quality assurance and approval processes.“Prior to the rollout of the curriculum, we need to work on these materials before making them available for public consumption and subject them to rigorous quality and approval processes,” he said.He added that the NCDC governing council would provide guidance on the materials in line with the policy direction of the ministry of Education and Sports.“After making our position as NCDC, we have a council that gives us direction as far as management is concerned. All these materials have to be presented so that they give us direction in line with the lead ministry for policy direction and others,” he said.Lower primary follows secondary reformsThe proposed lower primary CBC will be aligned with the skills-based approach already introduced at lower secondary level. However, the planned rollout comes amid concerns that the transition to competency-based learning has been uneven, with some teachers, parents and other stakeholders still struggling to understand their roles under the new system.The CBC seeks to move teaching away from the traditional emphasis on memorising knowledge towards developing practical skills, critical thinking, creativity and the ability to apply knowledge to real-life situations.A teacher conducts a lesson at Parent’s Hope Nursery and Primary School in Namayingo during the ISER field visits to nursery schoolsUganda introduced CBC at lower secondary in 2020, but its implementation has not yet extended to A-level, creating a transition gap for learners who have studied under the new approach at lower secondary.Speaking at the launch of the second International Conference on Curriculum Development, Gilbert Gift Siima, manager of the Secondary Department at NCDC, said the competency-based curriculum had now been embraced by all schools implementing the lower secondary programme.He said the approach had already resulted in practical innovations by learners, demonstrating the potential of skills-based education when properly implemented.“We have had a number of reports of children carrying out innovative projects that are responding to the needs in their immediate communities. There is a group that made a motorcycle in Entebbe. We have had several schools publishing innovative projects that have been developed by learners through competency-based teaching and learning,” Siima said.He, however, said effective implementation depended on the involvement of teachers, parents and the wider community.“The curriculum alone is just a plan which is implemented by a number of stakeholders, right from teachers to parents and the rest of us in the community. What we are having as a challenge is that a number of stakeholders have not yet appreciated the role they should be playing towards effective implementation of the curriculum,” he said.Siima said some stakeholders were still adapting to the new responsibilities brought about by the curriculum reforms.“We have a number of stakeholders who are still struggling to learn the new role that comes with the changes in the curriculum,” he said.He added that learners were responding positively to the changes, particularly the shift towards more interactive teaching.“We are getting a call from learners to have teaching and learning become more interactive, and the learners are actually very interested in the changes. So we are building on that,” Siima said.A-level curriculumNCDC is also developing a new curriculum framework for A-level, although officials said the process remains at the drafting and testing stage. The draft curriculum is being tested in selected schools before it is presented to the relevant authorities for approval.“We are still taking the draft curriculum through a number of checks. This year, we have gone to schools with a draft to check how it is working with the learners. Based on the information we will be getting, we will be able to make very important decisions,” Siima said.He urged the public to be patient as the process continues.“I request that we become a little bit patient. We are going to share about the curriculum menu, especially for A-level, because that one started a bit later, in due course,” he said.The proposed A-level curriculum is expected to place greater emphasis on critical thinking, creativity and practical application of knowledge, unlike the current approach, which is largely theoretical.NCDC officials said the reforms are intended to equip learners with skills that can help them respond to the demands of a changing labour market and compete in the global economy.Interactive learningThe curriculum reforms will also require changes in how teaching and learning are conducted across different levels of education. The new approach is expected to promote greater interaction between learners and teachers, with pupils taking a more active role in the learning process.NCDC has warned that failure by parents, teachers and other stakeholders to understand their responsibilities could undermine the reforms.The experience from lower secondary, officials said, had demonstrated that curriculum reforms cannot succeed through government action alone.The competency-based approach is intended to produce learners who can think critically, solve problems, innovate and apply knowledge rather than simply reproduce information in examinations.NCDC says these skills are increasingly important as Uganda prepares young people for a competitive labour market and a rapidly changing global economy.The post Ugandan pupils to study for max 3 hours per day under new primary curriculum appeared first on The Observer Media Ltd.