What you need to know:
- The current Senior Three and Four learners are still using the old curriculum which will be phased out next year while Senior One and Two learners are already using the new curriculum.
Senior Three learners, who fail the end-of-year promotional examinations conducted in the Third Term, will be required to go back to Senior One due to the new lower secondary curriculum.
The current Senior Three and Four learners are still using the old curriculum which will be phased out next year while Senior One and Two learners are already using the new curriculum.
This means that Senior Three learners cannot repeat the class next year should they perform poorly, because they will catch up with Senior Two learners who are doing a different curriculum.
Some parents are stuck after schools threatened to send their poorly performing children back to Senior One to start afresh as per the curriculum.
Some schools have also allegedly been threatening to expel Senior Three students who perform poorly if they refuse to repeat Senior One.
The head teacher of Seeta High School, Mr Allan Obbo, said the government has yet to address the matter.
“We should not work under imagination. The government should come out and guide schools on what to do next,” Mr Obbo said.
Some of the school administrators said they will invite the parents of the learners to discuss the available options.
“Repeating for these learners will not be possible. These learners will be advised to change and go to schools that can promote them irrespective of their performance,” Sr Gladys Kachope, the head teacher of Immaculate Hearts Girls’ School, said.
She added: “It is a challenging situation but I encourage learners to work hard and attain a pass mark of 60 percent. If they fail, their parents will decide what to do for the learners.”
The head teacher of Kololo Secondary School, Mr Edward Kanonya, said this is not going to be a challenge for learners in government schools who are automatically promoted irrespective of their performance.
An official from the Ministry of Education, who preferred anonymity to speak freely, said there is a policy on automatic promotions of learners.
“There is no repetition of classes. The policy is very clear. Learners should always proceed to the next level in both the old and the new curriculum,” the source said.
The Government, in 2020, rolled out the new lower secondary curriculum which is competence-based. The exams conducted by the Uganda National Examination Board (Uneb) at the end of the cycle are slated to be out of 80 for learners taking the new curriculum while 20 percent is compiled from schools from continuous assessment.
This is different from the 100 percent awarded to learners undertaking the old curriculum.
The national chairperson of the Secondary Schools Head Teachers’ Association, Mr Martin Okiria, warned heads of schools to comply with the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Education on automatic promotion.
“We should not be defiant about everything set by the Ministry of Education. I ask my colleagues to be human to the learners. You cannot take someone’s child back to Senior One. They will lose interest in education as well as lose money and time,” Mr Okiria said.
Govt responds
The Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Education, Ms Ketty Lamaro, yesterday said she was not aware of the threats to parents saying it is a wrong move.
“I am aware of progressive promotion of learners but let me find out from the secondary department on what can be done in scenarios like this,” Ms Lamaro said.
