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Students to study 2 subjects at A-Level
Ms Florence Nakijoba, a Chinese language teacher, interacts with students during a lesson at Entebbe Comprehensive Secondary School in Wakiso, Uganda, on April 5, 2022. PHOTO | FILE
What you need to know:
- The government wants to reduce students’ workload by reducing the number of principal subjects to be studied.
Officials at the National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC) have revealed that the number of subjects that will be offered by students at A-Level will be reduced in the proposed curriculum under review.
NCDC early this year embarked on revising the A-Level curriculum to benefit the students currently undertaking the new lower secondary school curriculum.
The Deputy Director of Research, Consultancy, and Library Services at NCDC, Dr Richard Irumba, last week told Daily Monitor that students will start offering two principal subjects as opposed to the three they have been studying in the current curriculum.
A-Level students under the current curriculum offer four subjects including three principal subjects and one subsidiary subject.
Once the curriculum is approved, learners will study only two principal subjects that are considered by higher tertiary institutions to admit students into courses of their choice.
“If a student wants to undertake a course in human medicine, that student needs only biology and Chemistry. Now we are saying why should that student be forced to add Physics or Mathematics which is not considered?” Dr Irumba said.
Adding: “We are saying let that student concentrate and focus on the two subjects that they need to be admitted in the profession of their choice.”
The move has been welcomed by education experts who are key in the implementation of the curricula in the country.
The Secretary General of the Uganda National Teachers Union (Unatu), Mr Filbert Baguma, said it is a good move.
“It is a good idea because we normally pressurise learners with a lot of work which sometimes is not relevant to what they are going to do. They will get knowledge by offering other subjects, but it is not applied to courses they are going to do so they end up suffering,”Mr Baguma said.
Similarly, the chairperson of the National Private Education Institution Association (NPEIA), Mr Hasadu Kirabira, said this has been long overdue.
“It is okay for a student to specialise in key subjects that will lead to their career in future as opposed to doing everything. This will reduce the workload and make students focused on key areas,”Mr Hasadu said.
He, however, said career guidance will be key so that by the time a learner takes two subjects, there is no turning back.
Mr Hasadu added: “By taking three subjects, learners have an option of offering another course if they failed certain subjects. This is going to be different, government should enhance career guidance so that when a student reaches that level, he or she knows the career path they want to take.”
In 2020, The Ministry of Education rolled out the competence-based lower secondary school curriculum to eliminate cram work which was common among students who were undertaking the old knowledge-based curriculum. But its implementation was affected by Covid-19.
The pioneer students of this curriculum are expected to join A- Level in 2024. NCDC hopes that these students will find a new A-Level curriculum.
According to Dr Irumba, the A-Level curriculum is slated to cost the government Shs100m. The government has so far released Shs6b leaving a balance of Shs94b.
“The review of this curriculum is long overdue. We cannot let O-Level students transition from competence-based to knowledge-based. The review of the A-Level is crucial and if the government does not release the required funds on time, it will be a disaster to have a mismatch in the two curricula,” Dr Irumba said.
Background
NCDC in February unveiled the proposed curriculum to the heads of higher institutions in the country.
The Monitor understands that NCDC has kick started the nationwide consultations and stakeholder’s engagement to get their input in the new curriculum and for acceptability purposes.
Officials have also revealed that experts from Belgium will assist Ugandan professionals on how a competence based A-Level curriculum should look like.
The experts have also started the process of reviewing all the subjects offered by students at A’level to be able to generate the outlines of every subject.
Dr Irumba said that once the above process is done, they are heeded to start developing content based on the outline before printing the books.
Training of teachers and implementation is slated to kick in after the books have been printed.
The current O’level curriculum faced a number of challenges including funding to enable the training of teachers and printing of the study materials.
According to officials from the Ministry of education, all teachers across the country have not yet been trained and as a result, they have resorted to training learners using the old curriculum.
OTHER PROPOSALS
• A-Level tenure will last a minimum of two years and a maximum of five years
•General Paper will be replaced with contemporary subjects such as generic ICT
•Learners will repeat only subject (s) failed at Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) exams
• All students must offer a vocational subject
•Continous assessment will contribute 20 per cent of the end of A-Level cycle grade, implying that UACE exams will make up 80 per cent of a candidate’s final mark
