KAMPALA, Uganda — Ugandan children in lower primary could spend a maximum of three hours a day in structured learning under a proposed Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) expected to be rolled out in 2028, the National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC) has said.
NCDC acting director Dr Patrice Ssembirige said the proposed approach would reduce structured learning time for younger children and place greater emphasis on their physical, cognitive, language, social and emotional development.
Under the proposed framework, children aged three to four would spend a maximum of two hours a day in structured learning activities.
Those aged four to five would spend between two and three hours, while children aged five to six could have about three hours of structured learning each day.
Ssembirige said the approach was designed to reflect the developmental needs of young children rather than subjecting them to lengthy school hours.
“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,” he said.
He said the curriculum would consider learners’ physical development alongside cognitive, language, social and emotional growth.
NCDC reviewing early childhood curriculum
Ssembirige said the early childhood curriculum had deliberately been designed to remain relatively light and was still being reviewed through consultations with teachers and other stakeholders.
“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,” he said.
The proposed curriculum is expected to shift emphasis towards age-appropriate learning and away from treating young pupils as, in Ssembirige’s words, “miniature secondary school students.”
Before implementation, NCDC will subject the curriculum and accompanying learning materials to 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,” Ssembirige said.
He added that the NCDC governing council would provide guidance on the materials in line with policy direction from the Ministry of Education and Sports.
Lower primary reforms follow secondary CBC
The proposed lower primary reforms are part of Uganda’s wider transition towards competency-based education, following the introduction of CBC at lower secondary level in 2020.
The approach seeks to move teaching away from an emphasis on memorisation towards practical skills, critical thinking, creativity, problem-solving and the application of knowledge to real-life situations.
However, implementation at lower secondary level has faced challenges, with some teachers, parents and other stakeholders still adapting to their roles under the new system.
Gilbert Gift Siima, manager of the Secondary Department at NCDC, said the competency-based curriculum had now been embraced by schools implementing the lower secondary programme.
He pointed to learner projects as evidence of what can be achieved when the approach is effectively implemented.
“We have had a number of reports of children carrying out innovative projects that are responding to the needs in their immediate communities,” Siima said.
He cited a project in Entebbe where learners developed a motorcycle, alongside other innovations and projects being undertaken in schools.
But Siima said the success of the reforms depended on more than the curriculum itself.
“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,” he said.
He said some stakeholders were still struggling to understand the responsibilities created by the shift to competency-based learning.
“We have a number of stakeholders who are still struggling to learn the new role that comes with the changes in the curriculum,” Siima said.
Learners want more interactive teaching
According to Siima, learners have responded positively to the more interactive approach promoted by CBC.
“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,” he said.
He said NCDC was building on that feedback as it continued to refine implementation of the curriculum.
The reforms are intended to give learners a more active role in the classroom, with teachers moving beyond traditional lecture-based instruction and encouraging participation, practical work and problem-solving.
A-level CBC still under development
NCDC is also developing a new competency-based curriculum framework for A-level, although the process remains at the drafting and testing stage.
Siima said NCDC was currently testing the draft framework in selected schools before making further decisions based on feedback from teachers and learners.
“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,” he said.
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He urged stakeholders to be patient as the process continues.
The development of the A-level curriculum is particularly significant because learners who entered the competency-based lower secondary system in 2020 have not yet transitioned to an equivalent CBC framework at A-level.
NCDC officials said the proposed A-level reforms are expected to place greater emphasis on critical thinking, creativity and practical application of knowledge rather than predominantly theoretical learning.
Government prepares for wider curriculum transition
The proposed lower-primary CBC is expected to require corresponding changes in teaching methods, learning materials and the roles played by parents and teachers.
NCDC officials have stressed that curriculum reform cannot succeed through government action alone and requires sustained participation from schools, families and communities.
The centre says the broader objective of the competency-based approach is to produce learners capable of critical thinking, problem-solving, innovation and practical application of knowledge.
For lower-primary learners, however, the proposed 2028 rollout would also mark a significant change in the amount and nature of structured learning, with NCDC emphasising that education at that stage should be aligned with children’s developmental needs rather than simply increasing classroom hours.
