Alfred Kyaka, the assistant commissioner for Secondary Education, has told The Observer that the ministry will study the proposals from the presidential meeting on O-level curriculum.
“We are going to study the implications of the proposals but also, when such a decision is made at such a high level of the president, it may not be easy for us to reverse," Kyaka said. “Right now, we are trying to see how we can communicate to our head teachers on these proposals.”
He explained that the current 50-year-old curriculum is elitist in nature and needs an overhaul.
“The new curriculum was holistic in nature and would benefit a student who is seeking for knowledge extension and also that one who would not be able to complete the cycle with the help of continuous assessment,” Kyaka said.
He also agreed that the current subject-based curriculum was too wide and had a lot of irrelevant content but merging the content into themes and sub-themes under the new arrangement would eliminate what was redundant and absolute.
Asked if changes in subjects at O-level would have a major impact, Kyaka said not all subject combinations at A-level would be affected in this shift. He also feels that although subjects such as Technical Drawing, Music and Agriculture are proposed to be phased-out at A-level, this will not affect course requirements at university.
Kyaka feels that if the proposals are passed, teachers of the affected subjects will need to be inducted into polytechnics, farm schools and technical institutes to become vocational teachers.
“This may not come easily, but let us wait and see what lies ahead,” he said.
nangonzi@observer.ug