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Parents reignite debate over old secondary curriculum
Ms Harriet Namiiro, the director of studies of Ndejje Secondary School, Luweero, and priests pray for the more than 430 candidates at the school on Sunday. Exams will commence in mid-October. PHOTO/DAN WANDERA
What you need to know:
- The 2023 Senior Four candidates are expected to be last batch to be examined on the old curriculum.
As schools begin to prepare their respective Senior Four classes for what has now been confirmed as the last set of the old lower secondary curriculum exam, stakeholders are yet to resolve the fate of those that might not succeed.
Rev Henry Majwara, the Assistant Chaplain at Uganda Christian University, while leading a dedication prayer for the Senior Four class of 437 students at Ndejje Secondary School at the weekend, told the students to put in their best to avoid repeating the class.
“Our prayer is for our candidates to sit the exam with confidence because you have been prepared for success. The old lower secondary curriculum ends with you. You have no chance to repeat S.4 in 2024,” he told the candidates.
Rev Majwara added:”The new lower secondary curriculum will only accommodate you if you start afresh from senior one. We thank God that our candidates are not in that category. The level of preparation gives us great hope.”
The UCE exams will commence with the briefing of candidates countrywide next Friday.
Ms Clare Grace Akello, a guardian of one of the candidates, wondered how the government will deal with the candidates who will fail to sit or will fail the 2023 exams.
“You cannot expect these candidates to easily fit in the new curriculum that has a progressive assessment right from senior one. I believe the concerned authorities have devised a plan,” she said.
But the Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb) Public Relations Officer, Ms Jennifer Kalule Musumba, in a brief interview with this paper on Monday said the above concerns are genuine and are under consideration.
Uneb responds
“This is a policy issue and Uneb has already made proposals that are under consideration by the Ministry of Education and the stakeholders. This will possibly be plan B though we are for now focused on the success of the candidates,” Ms Musumba said.
The head teacher, of Ndejje Secondary School, Mr Charles Kahigiriza, said: “We are presenting the largest S4 class for the UCE exam in the history of our school. Unlike the previous years, the candidates for the year 2023 have studied for five years and not the normal four years… Our candidates are prepared for the exam.”
A total of 364,421 candidates are expected to sit the 2023 UCE exam, a number slightly higher than the number of candidates that sat for UCE in 2022 which was 349,433, a statement released by UNEB recently revealed.
