By KT Reporter
Janet Kataha Museveni, the Minister of Education and Sports, has instructed the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) to ensure all higher education programmes transition to a competence-based learning framework.
In 2020, Uganda introduced a competence-based learning in lower secondary schools, following a regional and global shift and approach to education that prioritises practical job skills, life skills, and relevant knowledge over traditional rote learning.
As the first group of learners moves up, the ministry is creating a similar curriculum for A-level and adjusting teaching and assessment methods for continuity.
In a letter addressed to Prof Joy Kwesiga, the NCHE’s Chairperson, Mrs Museveni stressed that higher education institutions must also prepare for this transition.
“Higher education institutions to adequately prepare to receive the cohort of learners who have been studying under the revised O ’ O-level curriculum, which is competence-based,” the minister’s letter reads in part.
The council has since relayed the directive to universities and other institutions, informing them that they must review and align all programmes with a competence-based approach that emphasises mastery of job skills, life skills, and relevant knowledge.
According to instructions, every academic programme for first-year students in the 2027/2028 intake must be fully aligned with competence-based learning. NCHE was also ordered to create a system to track and report institutional progress to the ministry.
“This should be treated as a matter of priority before proceeding to adopt programs for continuing students,” she said she said, adding that institutions that fail to align their programmes will not be allowed to enrol first-year students when the time comes.
Prof. Maud Kamatenesi Mugisha, the Chairperson Kampala International University Council and former vice chancellor of Bishop Stuart University, said many institutions are still behind in preparing for competence-based learning despite years of notice.
“Some universities began adjusting their programmes early and have made progress,” she said. “But a significant number are far from ready. The shift calls for more than editing course outlines. It requires retraining lecturers to teach and assess practical skills and critical thinking, not only theory.”
Prof. Kamatenesi, who is also the Executive Director, Mamita Technical and Business Management Institute, explained that a few universities launched curriculum reviews soon after the competence-based lower secondary system started in 2020, yet many stalled.
“Some have finished revising a few programmes, others are midway, and many have not even started,” she noted. “With the first competence-based learners expected at university in 2027, that delay is serious.”
Prof. Kamatenesi stressed the need for staff development. “Lecturers need workshops and continuous professional training to handle new teaching methods and assessment models,” she said. “Without that, even revised syllabi will fail to deliver.”
She urged the National Council for Higher Education to provide stronger oversight and technical support. “Regular monitoring, clear benchmarks, and targeted funding will help institutions stay on track and avoid a last-minute scramble,” she added. “Universities must treat this as a strategic priority if they are to meet the deadline and serve the next generation of students.”
Saulo Waigolo, spokesperson for the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE), told URN that the council is drafting detailed guidelines to enforce the minister’s directive. These guidelines, he added, will spell out the requirements each university and tertiary institution must meet to align with competence-based learning.
Waigolo said most universities will not be starting from scratch. “Many programmes already include competence-based elements, even if that term has not been used,” he explained. “What we need now is a clear framework to bring all programmes to the same standard.”
He added that over the past few years, NCHE has been strengthening its capacity to review competence-based curricula and programmes by training its staff and contracted reviewers.
“Before 2027, every programme on offer will be reviewed to confirm it meets the required competence-based standards,” Waigolo said. “Our role is to ensure institutions are ready well ahead of the first intake of students who have studied under this new curriculum.”
URN also learned that this capacity-building has been conducted in collaboration with the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) and the National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC), both of which have experience designing and assessing competence-based education at the secondary level.
Meanwhile, while universities are now being directed to adapt, TVET institutions have moved quickly in recent years, adopting competence-based learning and assessment. This approach has become a cornerstone of ongoing reforms in the sub-sector.
Over the past year, Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions, working with the now-defunct Uganda Business, Technical and Vocational Education Board (UBTEB), the National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC), the Ministry of Education and Sports, and representatives from respective industries (world of work), have been developing competence-based programmes.
-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
