National Curriculum Development Centre embarks on A’level curriculum consultations

By Fahim Muyingo

National Curriculum Development Center (NCDC) has started reviewing the curriculum for Advanced Level (A’level) education to make it learner-centred and competence-based hence aligning it with the new lower secondary curriculum.

NCDC together with the ministry of education and sports 2020 resumed executing the new lower secondary curriculum which unfortunately got interrupted by the covid19 pandemic.

Bernadette Nambi Karuhanga the Deputy Director in charge of academics at the National Curriculum Development Center said the review is formerly at the consultation stage and they expect to come up with a general decision.

She noted that this is one of the reasons why NCDC carried out a needs assessment to ascertain the gaps in the current A’level curriculum.

Since the curriculum is still in the consultation stage, NCDC has not yet determined the subjects students are going to offer, combinations and curriculum menu since some members of the public propose a reduction.

In the new lower secondary curriculum, Nambi says ICT was integrated as a tool for learning to allow each learner to get exposed to ICT skills.

Nambi clarified that results from the study indicated that a section of members of the public would have loved to have the A’level curriculum changed into a vocational system.

This strapped NCDC to embark on carrying out stakeholder consultations, to see whether such a curriculum is implementable.

However, as they review the A’level curriculum, respondents are receptive to the idea of integrating ICT in all subjects at the A’level and also teaching it as an independent subject though this decision is not conclusive.

The consultations started at the beginning of this year and are expected to end by end of this year, when NCDC will come out with a generally accepted decision on the New A’level curriculum, to start writing the document.