New curriculum: Govt adds more study areas for nursery children

For the first time in many years, Uganda’s education system is undergoing a significant overhaul, with revisions at both basic and secondary education levels.

As part of this reform, the Government has redesigned the pre-primary (nursery) school curriculum, introducing adjustments to learning areas and classroom schedules.

Under the new curriculum, nursery school classes will start and end 30 minutes later than before. Previously, classes ran from 8:00am to 12:00pm, but with the new structure, sessions will commence at 8:30am and end at 12:30pm. This adjustment includes morning and lunchtime breaks.

Additionally, the Government has removed homework assignments for nursery children, mandating that all work be completed within school hours.

The new curriculum, developed by the National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC), replaces the Learning Framework for Early Childhood Development (ECD) that was introduced in 2005.

Key changes

One notable change is the introduction of cursive handwriting (locally known as kanana munana) at nursery level.

Initially taught at the lower primary level, cursive writing is now being introduced earlier to enhance brain development, concentration and writing skills among young learners.

Like the revised lower secondary curriculum, the new nursery school curriculum is competence-based, emphasising life skills, social skills and generic competencies.

The Government has also expanded the number of study areas (subjects) for nursery children from five to seven.

Age-appropriate content

The revised curriculum introduces age-specific content for baby, middle and top classes.

Baby class learners will engage in cursive writing, tracing and drawing to support brain development; middle class children will be introduced to number writing while continuing with drawing and other appropriate activities while in the top class for the first time, children will be taught short sentence construction and writing to prepare them for lower primary school.

Despite these changes, nursery teaching will continue to be play-based, ensuring that learning remains interactive and engaging.

New Vision has learned that the NCDC governing council, which includes members from the education ministry and the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB), has approved the curriculum.

A pilot programme will be conducted in 20 nursery schools, with five selected from each region of the country.

Based on the pilot’s findings, a report will be presented to the education ministry to guide the full rollout. However, sources indicate that the new curriculum is expected to be fully implemented in nursery schools next year.

“We are going to the field. Once the pilot is concluded, we will come up with a report that will inform the rollout,” an anonymous source said.

Dr Grace Baguma, the NCDC executive director, stated that these changes stem from a 2022 study, which revealed that the old curriculum was too challenging for teachers to interpret.

The review also sought to integrate information and communication technology (ICT) into teaching while transitioning from a knowledge-based to a competence-based system.

“With support from our mother ministry, we have enriched the ECD curriculum. The revised curriculum will produce more competent children,” Baguma said.

New study areas

Several new study areas have been introduced. Mathematics will replace numeracy, focusing on basic maths concepts for young learners.

The English language will be introduced to cater for English-speaking communities previously excluded by the local language-based curriculum.

Spiritual and moral development will be incorporated to help nurture children’s character.

Physical, health, and nutrition development will teach children healthy habits such as handwashing and proper feeding.

Interacting with the environment will introduce elements of basic science and social studies.

Personal and social development will focus on children’s ability to interact with others, share, and care for peers.

Literacy and communication skill development will support sentence construction and self-expression in English or local languages.

The old study areas

The previous curriculum, which is being phased out, comprised five learning areas: relating to others in an acceptable way, helping learners understand social interactions, exploring, using the environment, taking care of oneself for proper growth and development as well as teaching children about body parts and personal hygiene.

It also focused on developing and using mathematical concepts in daily experiences, developing and using language appropriately and encouraging effective listening and appropriate responses in various situations.

Modern Musimenta Karema, the Uganda Board Representative to Regional Education Learning Initiative (RELI) Africa, welcomed the changes, adding that the curriculum will contribute to early childhood development.

“The change in classroom time is a good development. We have had challenges where children are picked up from home at 4:00am to go to school. This was wrong. With the class time changes, this old practice must end,” he said.

Musimenta, who doubles as the country director for STiR Education, recommended that the Government should bar school vans from picking children before 7:00am.

‹‹ Changes stem from a 2022 study, which revealed that the old curriculum was too challenging for teachers to interpret.

Nursery education coverage

According to the National Situation Analysis of Early Childhood Development in Uganda report, pre-primary education access stands at just 38% nationwide.

The report highlights a stark disparity in access, with the Buganda sub-region alone accounting for 43% of all pre-primary schools, while the Karamoja sub-region has only 1%.

Ministry of Education and Sports data reveals that Uganda has 22,260 ECDs.

However, as of May 2024, only 9,723 had uploaded learner data to the Education Information Management System (EMIS), which tracks student enrolment, teachers and facilities.

Some regions, including Kampala, south-central Uganda, Karamoja, and Bunyoro, exhibit notably poor access to nursery education. The report recommends targeted interventions to address these gaps.

The Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development conducted the situation analysis across 10 sub-regions: Acholi- Lango, Ankole, Buganda, Bunyoro-Toro, Busoga, Elgon, Karamoja, Kigezi, Teso- Bukedi and West Nile.

Among the worst-performing districts in ECD service provision were Amuru, Kiruhura, Bukomansimbi, Buliisa, Mayuge, Bukwo, Amudat, Kisoro, Bukedea and Yumbe.

Conversely, districts like Gulu, Sheema, Kampala, Bundibugyo, Jinja, Kween, Napak, Rukungiri, Busia, and Koboko ranked highest in their respective sub-regions.