Latest news with #UNEB
Zawya
04-04-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Government allocates funds for Advanced level (A- level) curriculum implementation
Uncertainty over the implementation of the new Advanced level (A- level) school curriculum will soon end, after the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development allocated Shs7.1 billion for its implementation. The assurance was given after Members of Parliament sitting on the committee of Education and Sports put the Minister of State for Finance (Planning), Hon. Amos Lugoloobi to task to ensure that funds are allocated to the National Curriculum Development Centre to implement the new curriculum. The Ministry of Education introduced a competence based syllabus for Ordinary level (O- level) and the pioneers of the syllabus were examined by the Uganda National Examination Board (UNEB) last year and have now advanced to A- level. The Chairperson of the Committee on Education, Hon. James Kubeketerya said that implementation of the A- level curriculum is overdue and should be treated with urgency. 'This is non-negotiable; the matter cannot be debated. Money should be found to implement the new curriculum,' he said. The MPs were meeting the Minister of State for Education (Higher Education), Hon. Chrysostom Muyingo, alongside Lugoloobi to consider the Ministry's policy statement and budget estimates for the 2025/2026 financial year on Thursday, 03 April 2025. Hon. Michael Timuzigu (NRM, Kajara County) added that it is unfortunate that only 15 teachers have so far been trained by UNEB on how to assess students under the new curriculum. 'UNEB was not given money to train more teachers to do assessment and this new curriculum is going on. There is an assumption by the Ministry of Finance that those 15 who have been trained are training others,' said Timuzigu. Hon. Nathan Itungo (Indep, Kashari South County) said that the new curriculum requires continuous assessment but UNEB is constrained by lack of funds. 'We have students in senior five but we are still struggling with implementation of the new curriculum,' he said. Lugoloobi however said that the Ministry of Finance has allocated Shs18 billion to facilitate UNEB to carry out continuous assessments and subsequent marking of final national examinations. 'We have supported UNEB and now they have even reduced cases of exam leakages,' Lugoloobi said. The MPs also urged the Minister to consider harmonisation of salaries of all primary and secondary school teachers, following enhancement of salaries of teachers of science subjects. Butemba County MP, Hon. Patrick Nyanzi raised concern that the Ministry of Education has not included the request in the 2025/2026 financial year's budget. 'The two Ministers [Finance and Education] have been appearing before us and they said that even before salaries of science teachers were enhanced, there was a plan to increase that of arts teachers. The two Ministers are here, do they have news for us to deliver to arts teachers,' he said. Lugoloobi said that government was grappling with closing funding gaps in the national budget. 'We still have a challenge with mobilising resources,' Lugoloobi said. The Ministry of Education's projected budget for the next financial year is Shs800 billion, and Minister Muyingo said out of that, Shs200 billion is external financing. 'All the additional resources provided to the Ministry are not discretionary but earmarked for specific activities. This implies that the fiscal space available to the Ministry to implement emerging priorities is still very limited,' Muyingo said. He pointed out some of the unfunded and underfunded activities including implementation of free and compulsory Universal Primary Education, grant aiding of primary and secondary schools and re-purposing of primary teacher's colleges. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Parliament of the Republic of Uganda.
Zawya
07-03-2025
- Business
- Zawya
'Open Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) exam centre in Burundi'
Government is urged to engage the Burundi Government in order to establish a centre for the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) there. This recommendation is contained in a report of the Committee on Foreign Affairs which stated that, Uganda's education curriculum is being taught in schools in Burundi, with learners expected to sit for UNEB exams within Uganda. The report presented by Hon. Gabriel Okumu (NRM, Okoro County) during the plenary sitting on Wednesday, 05 March 2025 observed that the requirement for these learners to travel to Uganda is costly and caused psychological strain on students. 'The Ministry of Education and Sports in collaboration with Ministry of Foreign Affairs, should engage the Government of Burundi through diplomatic channels to negotiate and formalise the establishment of a UNEB examination centre in Burundi. This will reduce the financial burden and psychological strain on learners traveling to Uganda for exams and encourage more schools in Burundi to adopt and promote the Ugandan curriculum,' said Okumu. He also urged the Ministry of Education and Sports to work closely with schools teaching the Ugandan curriculum in Burundi to ensure they meet the necessary requirements for establishing a UNEB centre. 'The ministry informed the committee that it was feasible to grant a UNEB centre, provided the schools met specific requirements including recruiting qualified head teachers in accordance with the Ugandan standards and employing at least six qualified teachers who also meet Ugandan standards,' Okumu added. He also noted that the Minister for Education and Sports will be required to issue a statutory instrument to legalise the operations of the UNEB centre. The report on the committee's oversight visit to the Embassy of Uganda in Bujumbura, Burundi also highlighted key areas of concern in the sectors of tourism, trade and investment. To improve trade and investment, the committee recommended that Uganda's mission in Burundi should be adequately funded to enable it conduct aggressive export promotion strategies and initiate bilateral agreements to strengthen cooperation in the industrial sector. The committee also recommended that Uganda's Embassy in Burundi should strengthen partnerships with Burundian tour operators and media outlets to promote Uganda's key tourist attractions. In a related development, Okumu also presented a report of the committee's oversight visit to the Uganda High Commission in Kigali, Rwanda, which noted a decrease in trade volumes and emergence of new competitors owing to the closure of the Uganda-Rwanda border between March 2019 and January 2022. The report indicates that before the border closure, Rwanda was Uganda's fifth largest export market with trade volumes valued at Shs124.4 billion in 2019. 'Rwanda sought alternative markets, allowing other competitors to establish a presence in sectors previously dominated by Ugandan products. Rwanda also accelerated development of its domestic industries to manufacture goods that were previously imported from Uganda, thereby reducing reliance on Ugandan exports,' reads the report in part. The committee recommended that Uganda's Minister for Foreign Affairs urgently schedules a consultative meeting with their Rwandese counterpart as agreed during the Joint Permanent Commission (JPC) held in March 2023. Okumu noted that the move will ensure smooth implementation of the decisions of the JPC and strengthen bilateral relations between Uganda and Rwanda. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Parliament of the Republic of Uganda.
Zawya
27-02-2025
- Politics
- Zawya
Improved school infrastructure key for new curriculum
Government is urged to invest in Information Communication Technology (ICT) and science laboratories to improve student output and performance under the new lower secondary school curriculum. While responding to a statement by the Minister for Education and Sports on the new grading system for the new curriculum, the Shadow Minister for Education and Sports, Hon. Joseph Ssewungu said that lack of ICT infrastructure constrained the ability of schools to timely submit credit assessment scores to UNEB. Ssewungu presented his statement to the House chaired by Speaker Anita Among on Wednesday, 26 February 2025. Ssewungu alluded to a statement from the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) Director which indicated the challenges of shortages of school laboratories. 'The new curriculum, being skills-based, requires that science labaratories and workshops are well-equipped to give the learners enough chance to create new knowledge through self-learning. Unfortunately, many rural and private schools lack these and are also short of science teachers,' Ssewungu said. He added that the new curriculum's emphasis on practical application raised questions about the relevance of theoretical subjects like history, C.R.E and geography to real-life problem-solving. Ssewungu urged UNEB to improve on supervision of the assessment of the 20 per cent awarded to learners, noting that project work is not supervised, which raises questions about the credibility of the results. Ssewungu urged government to prioritise teacher training and recruitment especially in languages like Kiswahili. Hon. Robert Migadde (NRM, Buvuma Islands County) said schools in villages did not compete favourably in the first assessment under the new curriculum in 2024, citing lack of access to key facilities to support project work. 'Seed schools lack computer labaratories and many of them to do not have access to stable electricity, yet these are examinable courses,' said Migadde. Speaker Anita Among, emphasised the need to improve necessary infrastructure in schools to enable project-work assignments under the new lower secondary school curriculum. 'Most of these problems are in government-aided schools. The issue of infrastructure is very crucial. It may not be under ICT or laboratories alone, but the ministry must also consider libraries,' Among said. The Speaker tasked the Minister for Finance to provide funding for extension of electricity across the country. 'What would it cost us if we handled the Rural Electricity Authority (REA) projects that were not completed, in a similar manner like we handled roads, by giving each district Shs1 billion to finalise the electricity projects? This should be in the corrigenda for the coming budget,' Among said. The State Minister for Finance, Planning and Economic Development (General Duties), Hon. Henry Musasizi promised to provide feedback when he presents a report on the implementation of the National Development Plan IV within the proposed budget. Hon. Emmanuel Ongiertho (FDC, Jonathan County) made a proposal that topics on project work done by students should be based on day-to-day skills training, adding that the new curriculum should have been initiated from primary level, to enable students acclimatise easily. Katikamu County South MP, Hon. Hassan Kirumira urged the Ministry of Education to sensitise parents on the new lower secondary school curriculum. 'Our parents are more inclined to knowing marks and how their children have performed after school which drives them away from the whole point of the new curriculum that is based on learner assessment,' said Kirumira. Nwoya East County MP, Hon. Geofrey Okello observed that many teachers are not conversant with the curriculum's competence based model of teaching. 'There were regional trainings for trainers of teachers however, they were never facilitated to extend the knowledge. Many teachers are not knowledgeable about what is being examined,' Okello said. Luuka District Woman Representative, Hon. Esther Mbayo urged the Ministry of Finance to expedite the process of releasing money to facilitate the training of teachers under the new curriculum. 'A new term has started and we have many teachers who are not well versed with the new curriculum. Making the funds for training available will enable the trainers of teachers to help those supposed to implement the curriculum, to do their work well,' Mbayo said. Hon. Stella Atyang noted that students have lost confidence in their teachers, and she stressed the need for adequate training in giving lessons under the new curriculum. 'Learners have expressed that teachers do not know what they are translating to them. Students are asked to buy textbooks but teachers are teaching and explaining different things from those expected in the curriculum,' Atyang said. The Leader of the Opposition, Hon. Joel Ssenyonyi tasked the Ministry of Education and Sports to give continuous updates to Parliament on the progress of the new lower secondary school curriculum, and implementation of the proposed new A-Level curriculum. The State Minister for Primary Education, Hon. Joyce Moriku appreciated proposals made by MPs adding that the reviewed curriculum produce a competitive generation Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Parliament of the Republic of Uganda.
