New Uganda curriculum training to delay opening of 27 schools

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT |  The Ministry of Education and Sports has extended opening dates of term one for schools that will host training of Senior One Secondary School Teachers on Uganda’s revised Lower Secondary Curriculum.

The Ministry of Education and the National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC) have in the past week been training master trainers to conduct the sessions on February 3 across the country.

“The Ministry is cognisant of the fact that the official opening is coinciding with the opening date for schools. This is therefor to inform you that the 27 secondary schools acting as SESEMAT training centers are hereby permitted to extend their opening date for Term One by one week to the 10th February 2020, to allow the training of senior one teachers to be concluded,” Education Ministry Permanent Secretary Alex Kakooza said in a letter to head teachers.

SESEMAT is the Secondary Science and Mathematics programme. The SESEMAT programme was introduced in 2005 with the purpose to improve the teaching ability of science and mathematics teachers at secondary level; and to improve performance in those subjects.

The official opening date for Term One for the selected schools will therefore be 10th February, not February 3rd like the rest of the schools as stated in the 2020 school calendar.

The New curriculum

According to the Ministry of Education, “the new curriculum is competence based, emphasising the learner to be at the center of learning. It focuses on learning out outcomes and aims at producing a holistic learner.”

In the new curriculum, the teacher is the facilitator of learning, meaning that learners are expected to contribute to their learning with guidance from the teachers.

The new curriculum has 21 subjects. A school is expected to offer 12 subjects at S1 & 2 out of which 11 are compulsory and 1 an elective. S3 and 4 will exist with 8 minimum subjects and a maximum of 9 subjects with 7 compulsory subjects.

Classroom teaching has been reduced to 5 hours a day. Lessons start at 8:30am and end at 2:50pm which allows learners to engage in research, clubs,games and sports and have time for revision for 1 hr and 40 mins. The school day will end at 4:30pm.

Below is the list of schools affected.
– Bukulula girls ( Kalungu)
– Muntuyere High school Kitunga ( Ntungamo)
– St Mary’s Rushoroza ( Kigezi region)
– Duhanga SS ( Hoima )
– Nyakasura High school ( Rwenzori region )
– Nsenyi Girls ( Kasese)
– Kibuli SS ( Kampala)
– Lubaga SS
– Mt. St Mary’s College Namagunga ( Mukono)
– Ndejje SS ( Luwero region )
– Kitende SS (Mpigi )
– Ntare school ( Mbarara region)
– Sacred Heart Mushanga ( Bushenyi region )
– Kamonkoli College ( Mbale region )
– Moyo SS ( Moyo region)
– Moroto High ( Karamoja region)
– Sebei College Tegeres ( Sebei region)
– Mityana SS ( Mityana region)
– Lango College ( Lango region)
– Sacred Heart Gulu ( Gulu region )
– Kiteredde ss ( Rakai region)
– Iganga ss
– St Mary’s College Kisubi
– Trinity College Nabbingo
– Tororo Girls (Tororo / Butaleja)
– Masaka SS (Masaka)
– Mvara sss( Arua/ Nebbi region.
– St Aloysius College Nyapea..