Learning in Scarcity:
Schools Struggle to Meet Learners' Needs in New Curriculum
Written by: Shibah Nakakande | Photography by Akram Ndawula.
Saturday, October 18, 2025
The serenity and tense mood welcome you at Kasengejje Secondary School, one of the few government aided schools in Wakiso Town Council.
The second cohort of candidates under the lower revised secondary curriculum are in for their first set of Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) examinations. This marks six years since the government rolled out the revised curriculum for secondary schools in Uganda.
Senior three students, the 2026 candidates in the next 12 months are in for a biology practical lesson conducted by Charles Kazibwe the deputy headteacher academics at Kasengejje S.S.
“During the classroom setting, when we are handling theory, we give small demonstrations. There are bigger groups, big groups. I am giving them a more hands-on practical session, based on what they had in their learners’ books,” he says.
In a lesson of over 300 students, learners are navigating the scarcity learners’ text books to execute the lessons.
At Kasengejje Secondary School in Wakiso District, one practical guide textbook is shared by 15 learners on average. Photo by Akram Ndawula.
Mahadi Mukama, a senior three student passionate about science subjects, biology and chemistry in particular helps his fellow students navigate a chemistry group discussion with one learners’ text book.
They are given an assignment to accomplish amongst themselves since the revised curriculum encourages teamwork, research and critical thinking as the major competencies.
“They told us before we go to the practical class, we have to first get through the processes of doing it. And we had to first go through the theory parts. Those theory parts, we did not have textbooks.So the facilitator had to stand in front” said Mahad
The ratio of students is 15 students per text book which makes it hard for them to learn effectively.
A teacher facilitates an overcrowded Senior Three class at Kasengejje Secondary School. Photo by Akram Ndawula.
The National Curriculum Development Centre(NCDC), a body in charge of training teachers on implementing and designing the curriculum, encourages students to use locally made materials especially during science lessons.
“The ratio is not yet where we want it. If you are talking about a burrette, you could use a bottle of mineral water. You mark it with millilitres so that it can be used,” explains the Deputy Director NCDC Dr. Bernadette Nambi Karuhanga.
However students at Kasengeje S.S. use their recently furnished computer laboratory to conduct more research for their activities of Integration as well as improvise for the few learners’ textbooks.
The school has a total of 1,541 students with 72 senior three and 94 senior four students offering Information Communications and Technology Studies(ICT). The laboratory has 20 computers wired to the internet and a ratio of approximately four students per computer during lessons.
The rest of the students use the ICT laboratory for research which is insufficient.
A student takes notes from a practical guide shared with other learners. Photo by Akram Ndawula.
In 2020, the Ministry of Education and sports (MOES) with ( NCDC) rolled out the revised lower secondary curriculum to strategise and prepare learners for opportunities in the 21st Century where creativity, innovation, and problem-solving are key competencies for sustainability.
These are embedded into the revised secondary curriculum not only in Uganda but also in Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, South Africa, Nigeria, and Ghana.
The Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) is learner-centered and hands-on, requiring critical thinking, and creativity skills unlike the old curriculum which is teacher centred leaving the learner only a consumer and not a contributor.
“What is this new curriculum that the ministry of Education and sports has rolled out?” wondered the parents and the teachers who had no idea about it.
In 2024, the first cohort of senior fours sat for their final examinations and 98.05% of candidates passed to progress to the next level. Parents questioned the standardization of the system because they hadn’t been provided with a clear plan for their children.
“By 2030, roughly 230 million jobs in Africa will demand digital skills. Classroom practices must shift to meet these future employability needs and nurture creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving”, according to the Global Partnership for Education.
Students share a practical textbook. Photo by Akram Ndawula.
The learners’ text books are used to guide learners about the work they are to research about after every topic for their Activity of Integration.
Though the text books have limited information, they are helpful to the learners as they improvise with the internet for further research.
Students use different materials to conduct classes efficiently like the text books to conduct research and activities of integration(AOI) which contribute 20% to the learners’ Uganda Certificate of Education examinations.
For science subjects where learners have the theory lessons first, they’re required to have the samples of the practicals before the real demonstration for the learners to be familiar with the work.
The government allocated 63.6 billion shillings for learners’ text books procurement for the revised curriculum with a target of distribution of 8.6 million copies across 19 subjects. The phase cost shs. 30.7 billion. For S.1 and S. 2.
For both learners’ text books and learners’ guides’ an additional shs. 6.9 million cost shs.32.9 with the contract awarded to 19 publishing companies to produce books for senior three and senior four. The books were reportedly worth shs. 40 billion for both private and public schools.
Charles Kazibwe, the Deputy Headteacher at Kasengejje Secondary School. Photo by Akram Ndawula.
In 2024, schools were stuck with over 4000 new curriculum text books after they were distributed but they weren’t up to standard. With an audit by the NCDC, 3,713 learners’ books and 242 teacher’s guides for various subjects were mistakenly delivered.
Project work that registered the majority of the candidates with As and Bs in the 2024 UCE. Students’ creativity, collaboration, communication, and innovation are tested through their ability to identify real-world problems in their communities, find suitable solutions to them, and write reports.
Arinaitwe Emmy Bindeba a student at Makerere College School among the first cohort of candidates who sat for their final examination in 2024 came up with a solar concentrator project to make food warm for a long time.
“There are quite several problems that cannot be overcome so this time I was passing through a slum and these people’s lifestyles grabbed my attention. This raised a question in my mind of whether they eat their food cold. when their electricity goes off, they are at risk of using candles. This triggered me to come up with an idea of such a project to cater for multiple tasks at a go.” Said Arinaitwe.
Emmy from Makerere College School holding a solar concentrator. Inadequacy in the approach to academic needs. The current need in the education system requires a student to be result-oriented regardless of their standards and their performance determines the quality of standards in education.
Lack of individualization during the lessons, students aren’t catered for personally by teachers due to the large numbers of students they teach.
An arts secondary teacher in Uganda according to standards has a maximum of 12 lessons a day and a science teacher has 16 lessons.
“With the new online learning management system, we can interact with learners so easily. You can monitor their progress so easily, wherever they are in the world. So, what is required now, is to ensure that you walk with the regulator to see how these online learning can be accredited.” Said, Dr. Bill Nkeeto the Dean Faculty of Business and Management at Victoria University.
The United Nations Children’s Fund(UNICEF) in partnership with Airtel Uganda provided computers and internet services to Kasengejje S.S to enable learners carry out research effectively.
For African students to confidently attack the sustainable development 21stopportunities bubble, a clear proactive monetization of standards about education is required by bodies like the Directorate of Education Standards.
We are Africa's first solution journalism newsroom producing immersive stories on innovations, models and systems that are working around Africa. We also work to produce alternative solutions stories to challenge negative narratives about the continent.