Kioga County MP Hon. Collins Angwech Mindyang has called for the adoption of relevant lessons from Kenya’s education reforms to help improve the quality of education in Uganda.
Angwech, who is a member of Parliament’s Committee on Education, made the call while speaking to Facts Media from Nairobi, Kenya, where Ugandan legislators are conducting a benchmarking tour of the country’s education system.
The delegation is studying Kenya’s Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC), digital learning, teacher professional development and inclusive education, among other reforms that could provide lessons for Uganda.
Angwech said the benchmarking tour had given the legislators an opportunity to understand how Kenya has implemented education reforms and identify practices that could be adapted to Uganda.
She said Kenya introduced CBC about 10 years ago after realising that the former 8-4-4 system had limitations in equipping learners with practical skills and competencies needed to respond to changing social and economic demands.
“We are looking at what Kenya has done in education and identifying lessons that can help us make better decisions for Uganda,” Angwech said.
The MP said the committee would prepare a report on the findings from the tour and present it to Parliament upon returning home, with recommendations for consideration by the Government and the Ministry of Education and Sports.
She added that the committee would continue conducting benchmarking visits to other countries to study education systems and identify best practices that could help address challenges facing Uganda’s education sector.
Hon. Julius Melly Kibiwott, Tinderet County MP and Chairperson of Kenya’s National Assembly Departmental Committee on Education, Research and Technology, urged Uganda to strengthen teacher training to ensure educators have adequate knowledge and skills to implement CBC effectively.
Melly also called for increased sensitisation of parents about CBC, saying parents need to understand the curriculum and their role in supporting learners.
Hon. Ibrahim Abdul Haro, Mandera County MP and member of Kenya’s National Assembly Education, Research and Technology Committee, said the Kenyan Government had provided textbooks to schools and learners to support CBC implementation.
He added that the Government had constructed classrooms designed to improve accessibility for learners with disabilities, strengthening inclusive education.
Uganda introduced the lower secondary CBC in 2020, beginning with Senior One and progressively rolling it out to other classes. The curriculum emphasises competencies, practical skills, critical thinking and application of knowledge.