Acholi teachers: We are half baked to roll out revised curriculum

Kampala, Uganda  | THE INDEPENDENT |  A number of secondary school teachers in Acholi sub-region trained in the revised lower secondary curriculum; say they need sufficient time to grasp the syllabus before it is rolled out to learners.

This week, Ministry of Education and Sports through the National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC) trained at least 750 teachers as trainer of trainers from the region ahead of the curriculum roll out on February 17.

According to the concerned teachers, they are not yet well acquainted with the methodologies of the curriculum. They argue that only one-week of training to implement the revised curriculum that took 12 years to modify is by any standards questionable.

Isaac Ocan, a Biology and Chemistry teacher at St. Pope Paul II College, a private Catholic boarding school in Gulu reveals that the knowledge to roll out the program is not yet well internalized and digested by teachers.

Josephine Candia, a teacher of English from Kitgum Town College told URN that teachers are undoubtedly ill-equipped to implement the revised curriculum.

Andrew Lagony Ojok, a teacher from Got Apwoyo Seed Secondary School in Nwoya District, says during the six days’ training the teachers didn’t learn anything because the facilitators could not competently interpret the new curriculum.

But Bernard Janja, a Curriculum Development Specialist at NCDC,also one of the lead facilitators is optimistic that the teachers have been trained as trainer of trainers and can undoubtedly interpret the curriculum. 

The trained teachers were drawn from over 145 government aided and private schools from Pader, Kitgum, Lamwo, Omoro, Agago, Amuru, and Nwoya districts. The six day’s training that ended on Friday was hosted by Sacred Heart Secondary School in Gulu.

The revised curriculum is expected to be rolled out when Senior One students report on Monday February 17 next week. It has 21 subjects and a teacher is simply meant to be the facilitator of learning to inspire the learners to contribute to their learning through rigorous research work.

However, on Tuesday, parliament suspended the implementation of the revised lower secondary curriculum to allow government through the Education Ministry make holistic changes.

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URN