Education Sector in crisis with CBC “O” and “A” level transitioning

“Education Ministry in crisis as old curriculum ends,”  THE INDEPENDENT, February 15, 2024:

CITATION:

“Kampala,  Uganda….Learners who sat the Uganda Certificate of Education under the old curriculum will be granted a one-off chance to sit for the exam, allowing them to proceed to ‘A’ level….

This proposal contained in a document that the Education Ministry presented to Parliament has, however, generated debate as MPs raised questions… 

The debate in Parliament came after the Ministry of Education presented a document outlining the strategy for transitioning from Lower Secondary to Upper Secondary under the new competency-based curriculum.”

Amidst the debate,  MPs discovered that as the inaugural cohort of the new Lower Secondary curriculum enters its final year, the Ministry and the Curriculum Development Center have not completed the ‘A’ level Competence-Based Curriculum.

The revelation led to more questions as it appears that the Education Sector is in a real crisis.

The Speaker,  Thomas Tayebwa, expressed his displeasure about how the matter has been handled.  He is of the view the review of A-level education has progressed at a slow pace. He noted that students’ choices are significantly influenced by their aspirations for the next level of education, which remains uncertain due to the lack of information on how A-level will be structured.

The Members of Parliament seemed to be passionately energised regarding the raised issue. The Minister requested to return to the ministry, consult further, and come back next week with comprehensive details regarding the matter of transition.

Jonathan Odur, the Member of Parliament for Erute South, criticised the Ministry saying that there was a lack of thorough debate and discussion on the competence-based curriculum when it was passed back in 2019..

Hon Jonathan Odur,  MP for Erute South, put his finger on the fundamental problem with the Competence-Based Curriculum (CBC). It began right from when CBC was passed in 2019.

CBC 2019 started wrongly anchored in GWPE 1992

CBC was premised on the Education and Sports Sector Strategic Plan (ESSP) 2017-2020, which was anchored on the Government White Paper on Education (GWPE) 1992 hitherto Uganda’s national overarching education policy framework of the 20th Century as follows:

“1.4.3.2 Recommendations under the Government White Paper on Education (1992 GWPE)

The 1992 GWP is the overall policy direction tool and it guides the development of broader policies and interventions in the education sector. In the ESSP (2017-2020), the following policy thrusts, as highlighted in the 1992 GWPE,  have informed the strategic objectives and proposed interventions:

(i)….(ii) Undertaking of curriculum review at primary and lower secondary levels to strengthen the learning of vocational and technical skills. (iii)…”

(ESSP, 2017-2020, page 6.)

Since 1992, the 20th Century GWPE 1992 anchored many policies, laws and strategic plans of Uganda’s Education Sector such as UPE (1997); National Curriculum Development Center (NCDC) Act 2000; Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions Act (UOTIA) 2001, as amended; Education Service Act 2002; USE/Uganda Post Primary Education and Training (UPPET) 2007; Education Act 2008; BTVET Act 2008.

GWPE 1992 also anchored the Education Sector Investment Plan (ESIP) 1998-2003; Education Sector Strategic Plan (ESSP), 2004-2015; and the Revised Education Sector Strategic Plan (RESSP), 2007-2015.

GWPE 1992 expired in 2010 at the onset of UGANDA VISION 2040

But here’s the fundamental point.  GWPE 1992 expired in 2010! That’s when the NRM Government led the whole country to adopt UGANDA VISION 2040: “A TRANSFORMED UGANDAN SOCIETY FROM A PEASANT TO A MODERN AND PROSPEROUS COUNTRY WITHIN 30 YEARS”–from 2010 to 2040–in and through ALL Sectors including the Education Sector!

Therefore,  both ESSP 2017–2020 and CBC (wherever it came from) should have both been anchored in Uganda’s overarching national education policy framework in UGANDA VISION 2040!

GWPE 1992 came out of Prof Senteza Kajubi Report 1989

Remember, it is the same current NRM Government that appointed the Prof Senteza Kajubi-led Education Policy Review Commission (EPRC), 1987-1989. And, it was from the Kajubi Report 1989 that the GWPE 1992 was developed. So that when the GWPE 1992 expired in 2010, all its hitherto unimplemented recommendations, strategies and objectives,  etc.; were automatically mainstreamed into imperatives (“Uganda/Government will”) of UGANDA VISION 2040.

Even the Government White Paper on Higher Education (GWPHE) 2008, from Prof McGregor Report 2007, also expired in 2010–though it was inaugurated in 2008 only two (2) years before its expiry in 2010.

Similarly,  all un-implemented GWPHE 2008 recommendations,  strategies and objectives, etc., were mainstreamed into imperatives (“Uganda/Government will”) of UGANDA VISION 2040. All these began with the first 5-year National Development Plan (NDP) 1, 2010-2015, with the theme: “GROWTH,  EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION FOR PROSPERITY”

H.E President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni’s Foreword to NDP 1, 2010-2015

H.E President Museveni’s Foreword to NDP 1, 2010-2015, was insightful:

“…..During the Plan period,  the investment priorities will include….human resources development in areas of education,  skills development,  health,  water and sanitation; facilitating availability and access to critical production inputs especially in agriculture and industry; and promotion of Science,  Technology and Innovation.”

(NDP 1 page i)

Hence,  CBC should have been anchored on NDP 1, 2010-2015, the foundation stone of UGANDA VISION 2040,  because NDP 1 (2010-2015)  “7.3 EDUCATION AND SPORTS SECTOR ” covered the whole spectrum of Uganda’s Education Sector and System as follows:

• Basic Education (Pre-Primary and Primary);
• Secondary Education;
• Business,  Technical, Vocational Education and Training (BTVET);
• Higher Education;
• Teacher Education;
• Physical Education and Sports;
• Special Needs Education (SNE) and
• Gender in the Education Sector.

(NDP 1, pages 208-217)

Furthermore, it was concerning Higher Education that NDP 1, 2010-2015, was CLEAR where CBC and any other curricula should have come from and how they should have been developed:

543. Higher Education: this is the heart of education as well as the core of national innovation and development systems. It is also the place where teachers are trained ad curricula developed. Without research in Higher Education to develop curricula for the entire education system, all curricula will be of little relevance to national development. Universities are the core of any national development system because they produce not only the knowledge needed to drive economies but also the skilled human resources required to do the job.

….

545….This plan will focus on improving the Higher Education sub-sector because all educational levels dovetail into the Higher Education sub-sector.”

(NDP 1, pages 214-215)

Current Education Sector crisis with CBC “O” and “A” level transitioning

As Hon Jonathan Odur MP correctly observed, the current crisis in the Education Sector, vis-a-vis transitioning from “O” level to “A” level with CBC, began in 2019 when it was passed. That is, the fundamental problem with CBC goes back to its wrong anchorage in the GWPE 1992 as its overarching national education policy framework that expired in 2010.

As such, CBC is not relevant to our national development and socio-economic transformation pegged on UGANDA VISION 2040, according to NDP 1 above: “Without research in Higher Education to develop curricula for the entire education system, aĺl curricula will be of little relevance to national development”

The same fundamental problem of wrong anchorage in the expired GWPE 1992 overarching national education policy framework also afflicts the ongoing Education Policy Review Commission (EPRC). Its Terms of Reference (TORs), too, are wrongly anchored on the 20th Century GWPE 1992 (www.edprc.go.ug)

How then can the Government White Paper that will come out of the report of the ongoing Education Policy Review Commission (EPRC) be expected to transform Uganda’s Education Sector and System in the 21st Century?

Recommendation: update  and re-anchor TORs of ongoing EPRC

In my considered judgment, it is advisable for the NRM Government to update and re-anchor the TORs of the ongoing EPRC on the NDP 1 (2010-2015) foundation stone of UGANDA VISION 2040. This would then enable the EPRC to focus on the transformation of Uganda’s 21st Century Tertiary BTVET,  Secondary, Primary and Pre-Primary Education sub-sectors and systems towards realisation of UGANDA VISION 2040.

This way, the final EPRC Report would then lead to the development of a 21st Century Government White Paper on Tertiary BTVET and Lower Education with Innovation anchored on/aligned with UGANDA VISION 2040.

This will synergize well with the NRM Government fast-tracking completion and development of the 21st Century Government White Paper on Higher Education with Innovation anchored on UGANDA VISION 2040 from Prof Omaswa Report 2014.

This would also cover BTVET Degree Graduate Engineers, Entrepreneurs,  Educators,  Performing Artists & Cultural Creatives from Pakwach District Local Government proposed 21st Century Innovation at Uganda Polytechnic University (UPU) Pakwach.

It would also cover Degree Graduates of UNITE-Shimoni and UMI.

The way forward: Two (2) Government White Papers on Higher,  Tertiary/BTVET, and Lower Education with Innovation

Development of the Government White Paper on Prof Omaswa Report commenced on 17th May 2016 when the Prof Omaswa Task Force officially handed over its final report to Government/Prime Minister Dr Ruhakana Rugunda in the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM). Henceforth,  the Prof Omaswa Report ceased being a Makerere Report and became a Government Report or “Government Green Paper”- the first step to the White Paper.

Thus, the two 21st Century Government White Papers on:

• Higher Education with Innovation (Prof Omaswa Report 2014) and;
• Tertiary/ BTVET and Lower Education with Innovation (Hon Amanya Mushega Report 2024):

Will constitute Uganda’s holistic overarching national education policy framework that will enable the holistic 21st-century transformation of Uganda’s Education Sector and System towards the realisation of UGANDA VISION 2040 within 30 years from 2010 to 2040.

FOR GOD AND MY COUNTRY

@ George Piwang-Jalobo Chairman, Amor Investments Ltd Pakwach & Research Fellow, GoU Task Force on Job evaluation, Reorganisation of the Staff structure and Financing of Makerere University (Prof Omaswa Task Force) 2011-2016