The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The new lower secondary curriculum has been hit by another controversy as the Ministry of Education and Sports takes a stand to ditch the Directorate of Industrial’s scheduled assessment for senior three students.
In this fresh twist, the education ministry has halted the assessment and ordered a refund of 80,000 shillings that had been paid by students in private schools.
“There will be no requirement for candidates to pay 80,000 …for assessment of The lower secondary curriculum. this is halted…the ministry will establish modalities of refunding those learners who have already made the payment,” a circular from the Ministry of Education addressed to all head teachers reads in part.
The decision to suspend this assessment comes at a time when numerous schools have expressed concerns about their lack of preparedness. Just last month, an investigation by URN revealed that schools in both rural and urban areas remained perplexed by the vocational aspect of the curriculum.
Many schools had never taught these vocational occupations due to insufficient equipment and a shortage of instructors. Additionally, teachers had not received proper training or orientation on the matter.
These concerns were raised at a critical time when the registration deadline for this component was approaching. Such late complaints prompted meetings at the Ministry of Education, and in the last meeting held last week at State House, a final decision was reached.
Dr. Denis Mugimba, the Spokesperson for the Ministry of Education, acknowledged that many schools are not ready for the assessment listing several challenges that schools have all long been crying out as the ministry remained silent.
But, Dr. Mugimba further stated that after the meetings, it was revealed that the assessment of secondary school learners by DIT went beyond their designated role and was not included in the recently revised curriculum. It was found that DIT had exceeded its authority in this matter.
Additionally, the spokesperson added it was discovered that DIT had made significant mistakes during its operations, leaving parents and school administrators puzzled. He noted they wrongly asserted that they were responsible for assessing student projects and awarding 20 percent of marks, which was intended to be evaluated through continuous assessment by teachers among other misinformation.
Mugimba further explained that in order to address the confusion, the Ministry decided to suspend the assessment process. However, he emphasized that parents and schools who desired to have their children assessed could opt for private organizations to carry out the assessments. Nonetheless, he advised against schools pressuring students into undergoing such assessments.
The spokesperson made this statement to highlight the fact that even before the introduction of the lower secondary curriculum-DIT had been conducting vocational occupation assessments in various primary and secondary schools. Notable examples of such schools include Mbarara Municipal Primary School and Katende Secondary School in Mpigi district.
Despite Patrick Byakatonda, the Executive Director of DIT, declining to comment on the matter, a source from the Directorate who preferred anonymity expressed surprise at the comments from the Ministry of Education.
“During the curriculum design process, we were actively involved and informed about our designated roles. Our responsibilities included assessing vocational occupations, and ever since then, we have been dedicated to developing teaching materials and training master trainers,” the source said.
The source said that the rushed implementation has resulted in unforeseen problems, and as a result, certain individuals within the ministry are attempting to shift the blame onto DIT in order to protect their own faces.
“It’s worth noting that all our endeavors have been carried out with budgets and plans that received approval from the ministry. Hence, we can confidently state that there has not been a single action taken without their explicit approval,” the source added.
The source also said that all circulars related to vocational occupation assessment were issued by the ministry. An important circular that stood out was the registration circular, which was authored by the permanent secretary, Ketty Lamaro.
This particular circular issued on March 10, 2023, not only emphasized the need for student registration but also provided explicit information regarding the registration fees applicable to students in private schools.
Ever since when the new curriculum was rolled out in 2020, one of its prominent features was the introduction of two certificates for students at the end of O’Level. It was communicated that in senior three, students were going to undergo level 1 Uganda Vocational Qualifications Framework occupational assessment administered by DIT.
The second certificate, commonly known as the Uganda Certificate of Education, would be granted based on assessments conducted by the Uganda National Examination Board (UNEB) in senior four. This assessment would encompass 20 percent of continuous assessments conducted by teachers.
But, Dr. Mugimba highlighted that even if DIT were to be permitted to conduct the assessment, it would not be possible due to the fact that the Uganda Vocational Qualifications Framework, which they intended to use for the assessment, had not yet received approval.
The new curriculum has been mired in various controversies since its introduction. These controversies encompass problems such as a lack of available instructional materials and insufficient training provided to teachers among others. Consequently, many schools have opted to persist with the use of the previous curriculum, despite warnings from the ministry to discontinue this practice.
Critics and experts have raised concerns regarding the hasty implementation of the curriculum without thorough piloting.
According to their perspective, the emergence of each new challenge is dealt with using a trial-and-error approach, as there was no prior testing or preparation. This approach has sparked further skepticism about the effectiveness of the curriculum.
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It’s a good idea to suspend DIT becaue they did’nt designed a book to guide students but my worry is about my 80000 if it will be refunded
I think it is good to remove the DIIT program because some parents and some schools don’t have inadquate supplies to drive this grogram.
Parents can’t also support this coz it is expensive some how eg the 80000 for regestration , eg the required equipments needed in the training are expensive.
Me as a learner I think DIT is not supposed to be suspended cuz it adds on our skills as we learners andso we are able to create jobs for our selves in holiday. Here is some proof (My name is MUKISA ERIA a student or Uphill College Mbuya and I was tought a course of tailoring andso during the holiday I was making money for my school fees so I created my own job with the skills and experience I got in DIT ,those were ma view. I will be very greatfull if my complain is put under your consideration, thanks for your time
I am not agreeing with this we expected that learners would be able to cub the problem of unemployment in the nearby future . An amount of 80,000 is less compared to that that you will have acquire to ensure that your child doesnt remain unemployed . no no no
That’s good but not that every parent is going to pay that 80000 and to buy the requirements for training eg the students who took computer like me, can’t buy a laptop and any electrical devices.
The dit is good but at this time the government is confused and the schools and the parents with their children. Dit is very good but the government should first plan big on the program of dit coz the students of s3 at this time have no skills to sit the dit exams coz it’s too late. The students lack skills and teachers.
I think they first wait for that program to run.
I think the goverment did the right thing because it’s very expensive for parent eg students like me and my classmates of ict not all of them are having personal computers only a few of us and that makes it a big problem to their parents
Honestly it’s not about the money, as parents you should look at the long term benefits not the current situation at home or work. It’s just about seeing the brighter picture
I feel like that decision to suspend dit isnt a good one. As a student in s3, I can tell you we were struggling and looking forward to the DIT assessment. This is because it would have brought a lot of benefits not just to us as students but as a whole country providing skills and important life skills that may don’t get at home.
At my sisters school they asked for 140,000ugx for DIT registration
DIT is for only people with visions like our president HEm7 are the who can appreciate it the are just band wagoners.
Dit is a very good agenda,both parents and learner are the most beneficially by taking the lion’s share achieving two certificate with employable skills on the same fees.on the side of the teachers it is exploiting them especially the art and design teacher who were left out among the vocational and not receiving science money.but when DIT came we have seen that most and great employable occupation skills that can solve UN EMPLOYMENT and also ch else development base on art and design cluster
Let dit be planned for after s.4,let elementary knowledge be taught in lower sec curriculum in the respective clusters. the entry assessment can be put there for those who wish join the world of work in the government promised vocational institutions at every sub counties.another thing the government has empty premises it’s former PTCs in every region of which can be used as centers of dit institution. let us not break dit shoot am ready to give advise/any in puts if needed
I mean the majority are bandwagons, they can only appreciate after seeing out comes. it’s not easy for them to see the advantages now.
When is the money back