A descriptive analysis of the implementation of the competency based curriculum in selected schools in Tororo municipality, Uganda

Abstract

A competency-based curriculum is a curriculum that emphasizes what the learners are expected to do rather than mainly focusing on what they are expected to know; thus it is principally a learner-centered curriculum and adaptive to the changing needs of students, teachers and the society. To be able to determine the extent to which this curriculum has been implemented, to find out the teaching approaches being used by the teachers during the implementation process and then investigating the different challenges being experienced during the implementation process, a study was done from the two selected secondary schools from Tororo municipality in Eastern Uganda. The study was done using three methods of collecting data; document analysis, observation and interviews. According to the study, the competency-based curriculum has been accepted by the school stakeholders and is being implemented in the schools. The different teaching approaches being used are discussions, group work, presentations, think-pair, role-play, self-discovery, projects, experiments, research, demonstration among others. However, the following problems are being experienced during the implementation process. The curriculum is too demanding in terms of time and some other resources from both teachers, learners, parents and other stakeholders. It requires computer skills among others. The information provided in this research will serve as reference for monitoring the aspects of implementation of the competency-based curriculum in the entire municipality of Tororo and Uganda at large.