Agency
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.
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.