Education
CPD, Networking Platforms, Mentorship Needed to Enhance Capacities of Women to Leadership Positions in Uganda
Published
4 years agoon

On Thursday 5th November, 2020, a project titled Enhancing Capacities of Women to Leadership Positions in Universities in Uganda (WOLEP) held a Dissemination Event at the Central Teaching Facility 1 (CTF1), Makerere University. The Principal Investigator (PI) WOLEP is Dr. Florence Nakamanya, Lecturer, East African School of Higher Education Studies and Development (EASHESD), College of Education and External Studies (CEES). The WOLEP team that also includes Assoc. Prof. Ronald Bisaso and Ms. Sharon Ainmbabazi recommended that Continuous Professional Development (CPD), Suitable Networking Platforms and Structured Mentorship Programmes are needed to enhance capacities of both incumbent and aspiring women leaders in Uganda’s Higher Education sector. The Dean, EASHESD, Assoc. Prof. Ronald Bisaso who was the moderator welcomed members to the dissemination and gave a preamble of the WOLEP project. The event started with a prayer led by Sr. Bernadette Lutaaya.
The event attracted a number of distinguished personalities who attended both physically and online. In attendance online were; Prof. Joy C. Kwesiga, the Vice Chancellor of Kabale University and the Guest of Honour, Prof. William Bazeyo, the Chairperson Grants Management Committee (GMC), Makerere University Research and Innovations Fund (Mak-RIF), Prof. Charles Masembe, GMC Member, Prof. Fred Masagazi Masaazi,the Principal, College of Education and External Studies(CEES), Ms. Harriet Adong, Head, Communication, RIF, Prof. Monica Chibita, Dean, Faculty of Journalism, Media and Communication, Uganda Christian University (UCU), Assoc. Prof. Betty Ezati, Dean, School of Education, Makerere University and GMC Member. In the physical meeting, we had the project team members, women leaders from Ugandan Universities including Makerere University, Kyambogo University, Ndejje University, Kampala International University, St. Lawrence University, Al-Mustafa Islamic College and female employees from the National Planning Authority (NPA) among others.

Dr. Nakamanya in her presentation highlighted that the project was made possible with funding from the Government of the Republic of Uganda through Mak-RIF. The PI noted that there exist leadership training programmes aimed at building capacities of female leaders in different parts of the world including Uganda. However, the numbers of women in leadership positions are still miserably low. For instance, she noted, we have only three female Vice Chancellors in Uganda and yet there are over 50 universities. Besides, the leadership training programmes provided are adhoc in nature, they are developed in the western world and adapted to African context, do not meet the current and emerging needs and largely depend on the availability of funding. This then created the need for the WOLEP project.
She enlisted the objectives the project as follows;
- To analyze the Leadership-related Training Programmes (LTPs) that women in leadership positions in universities in Uganda have attended.
- To establish the leadership-related competence profile for women in leadership positions in universities in Uganda.
- To investigate whether the existing leadership-related training programmes influence women’s aspirations and progression to leadership training positions in universities in Uganda.
- To examine women’s experiences with the existing Leadership-related Training Programmes in universities in Uganda.
- To identify the capacity needs and what works for women to occupy leadership positions in universities in Uganda.

The WOLEP project employed an interpretive approach to research because the team wanted to get an in-depth understanding of the issue that was under investigation. The participants of the project included the incumbent and aspiring female leaders. The Incumbents comprised of senior female leaders like Vice Chancellors, the middle leaders (Deputy Principals and Deans) and the lower leaders such as examination and research coordinators. The aspiring female leaders constituted any female academic member of staff in the university. The participants were purposively selected on the basis that they had ever attended a leadership-related training programmes and were drawn from the different categories of Ugandan Universities. The universities were categorized into public, private religious-affiliated and private-for-profit universities. Data was collected through interviewing 29 participants comprising of 2 senior female leaders, 9 middle female leaders, 9 lower female leaders and 9 aspiring female leaders.
The findings of the study include;
Objective One, where different Leadership-related Training Programmes (LTPs) were analyzed: It was discovered that the participants had attended international leadership-related programmes. Whereas the senior female leaders had participated in programmes organized by the Commonwealth, Higher Education Resources Services, Inter-University Council of East Africa, RUFORUM, the middle female leaders highlighted trainings such as the International Deans’ Course adn COACH AFRICA workshops in South Africa and Finland. Importantly, the international trainings were attended by mostly participants at all levels of leadership from the public universities. The middle female leaders had attended national leadership-related trainings particularly those organized by the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) whereas the lower and aspiring female leaders had mostly participated in internal institutional trainings.
Objective Two, which was about the competence profile of female leaders: She said that during the interviews, the participants shared competences related to leadership and management, teaching and research. Specifically, competences related to pedagogy, curriculum, research, social challenges, customer care, ICT, confidence building, teamwork, conflict resolution among others. She asked participants to reflect on how they teach and supervise graduate students in higher education.
Objective Three, on whether the existing LTPs influenced women’s aspirations and progression to Leadership: The female leaders shared that the training enabled them to acquire knowledge, share experiences, provided opportunities for personal professional development and networking. In-depth analysis had confirmed that the female leaders’ experiences with the existing LTPs influenced their desire to aspire and progress to academic and administrative leadership positions in Ugandan universities. For example, a female senior leader serving in a public university had said that “we are always given an opportunity to share experiences in the leadership training programmes. I ask colleagues and they would tell me how to solve it. I would get tips that I learn which makes me perform better in my work.”
Objective Four focused on experiences with LTPs: The focus was on the programme structure, stakeholder involvement and post-training experiences. The participants shared that the content provided in the trainings was too broad, theoretical and delivered in a very short period of time and yet very costly. She noted that there was limited stakeholder involvement, the training needs analysis was hardly done and there was unclear selection process. It was also found out that most of the LTPs that female leaders attend in Ugandan universities lacked the aspect of mentorship and did not make follow-ups. In view of this, achievement of the intended outcomes was constrained.
Objective Five identified the Capacity Needs for female leaders: The findings showed that the female incumbent and aspiring leaders would like to be capacitated in areas including networking and mentorship, research and publishing as well as leadership and management skills.
The study concluded that:
- Female leaders had attended International, National, and Institutional LTPs.
- The competence profile of female leaders comprised of leadership and management, teaching and research skills developed from the training programmes.
- LTPs had influenced women’s desire to aspire and progress to leadership positions.
- LTPs were too costly, theoretical with broad content, with limited stakeholders’ involvement, no follow up and lacked mentorship opportunities.
- Networking, mentorship, research and publishing as well as leadership and management skills were the capacity needs of incumbent and aspiring female leaders in Ugandan Universities.
The study recommended that:
- Continuous Professional Development should be rolled out for both incumbent and aspiring female leaders. The modularized programme that has been developed out of the current study will span a reasonable period of time and will be flexibly delivered using blended training approaches at the East African School of Higher Education Studies and Development, Makerere University.
- Universities should initiate sustainable networking platforms that provide avenues for incumbent and aspiring leaders to share experiences, challenges and new insights on how to perform their duties through periodic meetings and reflective seminars that could be flexibly organized or delivered using online technologies and social learning platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook, Zoom etc.
- The Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development and other relevant stakeholders should collaboratively initiate and support robust structured mentorship programmes for women in higher education where those with rich experience are invited to share their life stories which could be published in different formats like videos and used to continually nurture aspiring leaders and equally enhance women’s progression to leadership
The study proposed an intervention/solution/programme informed by a range of capacity needs that were highlighted by women at the different levels of leadership. The two modules developed to be flexibly delivered are:
- Leadership and Management in Higher Education
- Career Advancement of Women in Higher Education
The PI shared a quote by Sheryl Sandberg:“If more women are in leadership roles, we’ll stop assuming they shouldn’t be”.

In her welcome remarks, Prof. Joy Kwesiga the Guest of Honour congratulated the project team on the important research in which she participated and that she had been looking forward to the general research results. She highlighted that there was a minimal number of females that participate in higher education leadership. She shared her past experience while serving in Makerere University and expected the findings to trigger reflection on how to increase the number of women in leadership positions through established policies, support mechanisms and practices. Prof. Kwesiga noted that when the only female presidential candidate Nancy Kalembe said that females are going to break the glass ceiling and that becoming president was one of them, her mind was drawn to the importance of gender perspectives in leadership and management, in teaching, and research. Finally, she said she was glad that the study had been successfully conducted and that it would open up into a wider field so that we can have specialists.

The Principal CEES, Prof. Fred Masagazi Masaazi in his remarks, congratulated the lead researcher Dr. Nakamanya Florence and the research team upon attaining the milestone. He said that, whereas research was a boost to our academic endeavors, it was also a springboard for opening up space for national development. He further said that he strongly believed that the findings would go a long way in informing gender policy and other aspects related to gender and Higher Education. He thanked the Dean, East African School of Higher Education Studies and Development (EASHESD), for the support in ensuring that the School contributes to the body of knowledge, and for impacting on the College’s visibility. He further thanked the Mak-RIF team for the support and for identifying and funding the special area of study on enhancing capacities of women to leadership positions in universities. He concluded by noting that young researchers like Dr. Nakamanya were pillars for the University’s development.

Prof. Charles Masembe, Member of the Mak-RIF Grants Management Committee (GMC) in his speech welcomed the participants noting that they had been drawn from different universities and organisations. He thanked them for making time to attend the dissemination. He thanked the researchers and innovators for their tireless efforts. In a special way, he thanked the Government of Uganda for the continued support to Makerere University and for funding research through Mak-RIF. He further said that for a country to move from lower to middle income status, it needs research. In addition, he said that Mak-RIF is aimed at complementing available research funding to address unfunded priorities critical to accelerating development across different sectors of the economy in Uganda. He was happy that the WOLEP project had unearthed the capacity needs of the different categories of female leaders. He implored the project team to partner with a range of stakeholders to address the capacity needs as they roll out the project’s proposed training programme.

Prof. William Bazeyo Chairperson Mak-RIF Grants Management Committee (GMC), thanked the organizers for the Dissemination. He highlighted that this was the first dissemination he had attended ever since the fund started. He congratulated Dr. Florence Nakamanya and her team and thanked the Principal, Professor Masagazi for supporting research efforts in CEES. He noted that he believed in negotiation and he challenged every researcher to become a negotiator so as to ensure research uptake by the policy makers. He noted that since Makerere has the capacity and the negotiation skills, it should do better. He acknowledged the contributions of other teams on RIF1 and RIF2 and announced that RIF3 had been approved. He emphasized that whereas RIF1 was UGX 30 billion, RIF2 was UGX 30 billion and COVID-19 Response UGX 9.3 billion, he had negotiated for a greater allocation of funds for RIF3 and it will be higher, if not double.
He informed participants that he was also negotiating on how Makerere University (Mak) can support other universities to do research. He cited an example of a model university in Malaysia which was leading in research and had been funded to support research and capacity building in other public universities. Furthermore, he re-echoed the need of researchers to reach out to stakeholders and different ministries to share research findings. He called upon all researchers to begin writing policy briefs. He finally set a challenge to his colleagues on the GMC to start a programme to train researchers on how to write policy briefs.
Article by John Nuwagaba, CEES
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Education
Makerere Launches ARESRO Project to Strengthen Education System Resilience in Africa
Published
6 days agoon
February 26, 2025
Makerere University, through its ResilientAfrica Network (RAN), has launched the Africa Regional Education System Resilience Observatory (ARESRO) Project, a groundbreaking initiative aimed at bolstering the resilience of education systems across sub-Saharan Africa. The virtual launch, held on February 25, 2025, brought together key stakeholders, including prominent academicians, development partners, and educational experts from across the continent.
The ARESRO Project, funded by the Global Partnership for Education Knowledge and Innovation Exchange (GPE KIX) through the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), seeks to establish a virtual observatory headquartered at Makerere University. This observatory will serve as a central hub for real-time data on education system resilience, tracking current and future risks, shocks, stressors, and existing interventions in 42 GPE partner countries across Africa.

In his remarks, Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe, Vice Chancellor, emphasized the significance of the ARESRO Project in advancing Makerere‘s vision of becoming a research-led and innovation-intensive institution. “It is through such innovative projects that we can offer solutions to address the development challenges within our communities,” he added.
Prof. Nawangwe further underscored the importance of resilient education systems, especially in the face of Africa’s socio-economic, demographic, and climate challenges. He highlighted the need for strategic investments in research and innovation, noting that “Africa is on the rise, and her renaissance must be anchored in a formidable higher education sector that is research and innovation-led.”

Prof. William Bazeyo, Chief of Party of ResilientAfrica Network, highlighted the critical need for resilient education systems, stating, “The COVID-19 pandemic starkly demonstrated the vulnerability of education systems to unexpected shocks. By establishing ARESRO, we aim to provide real-time data and insights that will enable education systems to anticipate, adapt to, and recover from a wide range of disruptions.”
Echoing this sentiment, Prof. Rhoda Wanyenze, Dean, School of Public Health, emphasized that, “ARESRO is not just about helping education systems bounce back from disruptions; it is about proactively anticipating, planning for, and adapting to various challenges to ensure continuity and quality education for all learners in Africa.”

Ms. Tricia Wind, Program Lead for the Global Partnership for Education Knowledge and Innovation Exchange (GPE KIX), highlighted the observatory’s alignment with the goals of the Resilient Africa Network (RAN) at Makerere University and explained that GPE KIX, a joint initiative between IDRC and GPE, funds this project to support partner countries in building equitable, inclusive, and resilient education systems.
Tricia emphasized the importance of resilient education systems, especially in light of disruptions like the COVID-19 pandemic, natural disasters, and emerging challenges like artificial intelligence. She noted that the observatory aims to generate evidence and innovative solutions to help African countries strengthen their education systems against future shocks while promoting gender equality and inclusion.
She also highlighted the observatory’s role in addressing knowledge gaps regarding education system resilience, a concept lacking consensus in theory and practice. The initiative encourages collaboration among affected communities to find and implement effective solutions.

The Africa Regional Observatory is one of six global observatories, with others in Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East and North Africa, Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia, the Pacific region, and South and Southeast Asia. These observatories aim to foster a community of practice, sharing research, insights, and strategies to enhance education system resilience worldwide.
According to Dr. Roy William Mayega, the Principal Investigator, the ARESRO Project aims to fill crucial knowledge gaps by developing a unified framework for defining, assessing, and enhancing education system resilience. It will explore effective approaches to addressing future shocks, stressors, risks, and vulnerabilities, ensuring that African education systems are better prepared to face emerging challenges such as climate change, pandemics, civil conflicts, and technological shifts.
The observatory will engage in a three-pronged research approach, including Context Analysis, Formative Assessments, and Foresight Analysis. These strategies will provide a comprehensive understanding of resilience practices, perceptions, and experiences, as well as anticipate future shocks and stressors. Key project deliverables will include sub-regional desk review reports, country-specific formative assessment reports, foresight analysis reports, and research translation products such as knowledge briefs and policy briefs.

In his remarks, Prof. Nawangwe expressed deep appreciation for the support from GPE KIX and IDRC, saying, “Your contributions will go a long way towards strengthening the resilience of our education systems in Africa. IDRC has been a long-time partner of Makerere University, and we do not take your partnership for granted.” He also commended Prof. William Bazeyo for his exemplary leadership in steering research and innovation in Uganda and beyond.
Through strategic stakeholder engagement and collaboration with regional bodies such as the African Union, IGAD, ECOWAS, and SADC, ARESRO aims to influence policy and practice, ensuring that resilience-building strategies are embedded in education systems across Africa. The project will also prioritize gender equity, inclusion, and adaptive management to create more inclusive and sustainable educational environments.
The virtual launch ended with the official inauguration of the ARESRO Project by Prof. Nawangwe.
Education
Makerere University academic staff trained in competence based teaching
Published
1 week agoon
February 24, 2025
The Office of the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic Affairs) and the College of Education and External Studies through the Centre of Teaching and Learning Support are implementing the Pedagogy and Professionalism course, which is aligned to Makerere University’s strategic approach of promoting innovative teaching and learning.
Following a phased approach, the first cohort of the training targeted 50 teaching staff, with five members nominated from each of the ten Colleges to participate in a three-day training workshop (19th to 21st February 2025), focusing on enhancing the skills of academic staff in competence-based education in the ever-evolving academic landscape.
Addressing the participants during the closing ceremony of the training workshop, the Acting Vice Chancellor, Prof. Buyinza Mukadasi congratulated the first cohort of the academic staff upon the successful completion of the course.

Underscoring the importance of continuous learning and professional development, he disclosed that the training will be rolled out at the different colleges within the university to ensure that all academic staff are equipped with competence based teaching skills and methodologies.
He called upon those who had been trained, the University leadership and academic staff in general to always be conscious of the trends in the education sector, the emerging developments in the teaching profession and the world at large.
“The world is changing and different teaching methods must be employed to meet the diverse needs of students. The best way to remain relevant in the academia involves adapting to emerging developments and learning new technologies, “he said.

Dr. Dorothy Kyagaba, the Coordinator at the Centre of Teaching and Learning Support appreciated the Office of the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic Affairs) for creating a supportive environment through research entities and centers that facilitate innovative teaching, learning, and strategic partnership.
Dr. Kyagaba implored the participants to use the knowledge acquired during the delivery of teaching and learning programmes. She lauded the participants for their active participation and recognized the facilitators for their contribution to the success of the training workshop.
Highlighting some of the courses tackled during the training namely foundations of university pedagogy, competence-based curriculum, active-based learning, entrepreneurship, and emerging technologies, Dr. Kyagaba was optimistic that the knowledge and skills acquired would be used to cause a positive impact in teaching and learning at Makerere University.

On behalf of the Principal of the College of Education and External Studies, Prof. Anthony Mugagga, the Dean of the School of Education, Dr. Mathias Mulumba who is an Associate Professor at Makerere University, pointed out that one of the key takeaways from the Pedagogy and Professionalism training workshop is the need to train all academic staff in competence-based methodology.
The Principal emphasized the importance of training academic leaders in competence-based education. “For the next cohort, we will train Academic leaders namely Principals, Deputy Principals, Deans, and Heads of Departments,” he stated.
He explained that training academic leaders in competence-based education will empower them to appreciate the need to change their delivery approach towards competence-based methodologies, and also enable them to provide leadership in promoting interactive and learner-centered approaches.

“Training academic leaders, will help them to provide the much-needed leadership in interactive and learner-centered approach. By training academic leaders, the university aims to create a ripple effect that will transform the teaching and learning culture across the institution,” he said.
In his capacity as the Dean of School of Education, Prof. Mulumba informed the participants that the College of Education and External Studies through the School of Education was aggressively involved in the implementation of government programmes in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Sports, the National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC) and the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) to champion the rolling out of competence based methodologies in the country.
Prof. Mulumba cited the teaching staff at the School of Education, who in collaboration with resource persons from the National Curriculum Development Centre are executing the project titled: Capacity Building of Teacher Educators in Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) in selected Public Universities in Uganda. According to Prof. Mulumba, the research project, which is being implemented at Makerere University, Busitema University and Mountains of the Moon University is funded by the Government of Uganda through Makerere University Research and Innovation Fund (MakRIF).
Education
Makerere University academic staff trained on new Competency Based Curriculum
Published
2 weeks agoon
February 21, 2025
In a bid to improve the quality of education in the country, the Government of Uganda through the Ministry of Education and Sports and the National Curriculum Development Centre embarked on the implementation of the new Competency Based curriculum at the Lower Secondary level (Senior One to Senior Four).
The first products of the new Competency Based Curriculum were unveiled on Tuesday 11th February, 2025 when the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) released the results of the Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) Examinations.
Unlike the traditional approach, which is teacher-centered presenting the learner as a passive recipient of knowledge, the new Competency Based Curriculum is learner-centered, ensuring that the learner is innovative, active, engaged and involved in the entire teaching and learning process.
According to Dr. Mathias Mulumba, an Associate Professor at Makerere University, also the Dean of the School of Education, the new Competency Based Curriculum is enveloped in a learner-centred approach.

“The learner is at the centre of the teaching and learning approaches. It is about assessing the competencies of the learner. The learner must play a big role because he or she is the one to benefit from the teaching and learning processes,” he said.
He revealed that the Competency Based Curriculum requires the teacher to be a facilitator who is well-versed with learner-centered methodologies and content knowledge to enable meaningful learning.
Acknowledging that this is the best curriculum, Uganda has ever had, Dr. Mulumba called upon academic staff, learners, parents, employers and stakeholders in general to be involved in its realization and effective implementation.
Opening the training workshop for Teacher Educators held on 19th February 2025 at Makerere University, Dr. Mulumba stressed that the latest products (the Senior Four candidates who received the UCE results in February 2025) of the new Competency Based Curriculum are scheduled to join the Advanced level of education (Senior Five and Senior Six) and are expected to enroll at Universities in 2027 or 2028. He therefore stressed the need for academic staff at Makerere University and other Universities to be equipped with skills and knowledge that are in tandem with the new curriculum as well as the expectations of the learners.

The training workshop focused on: Understanding the Competency Based Curriculum, Effective facilitation of CBC sessions, Assessment in CBC, Integration of CBC in Teacher Education programs, and what to expect in the Advanced Level Competency Based Curriculum.
In this regard, he applauded the College of Education and External Studies at Makerere University for implementing the project titled: Capacity Building of Teacher Educators in Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) in selected Public Universities in Uganda, which is funded by the Government of Uganda through Makerere University Research and Innovation Fund (MakRIF).
He commended the Project Principal Investigator Dr. Mbulankende Julius Shopi together with his team consisting of Dr. Baluma Alfred, Dr. Walimbwa Michael, Associate Professor Esaete Josephine as well as the experts from the National Curriculum Development Centre namely Mr. Mathias Mulumba Mutema and Ms Nansubuga Joyce for implementing the project at Makerere University, Busitema University and Mountains of the Moon University.
On behalf of the team, the Project Principal Investigator, Dr. Mbulankende, explained that the situation analysis did identify gaps in competencies and abilities of teacher educators to adapt to the new curriculum. To position the academic staff into the gist of the training, he paused a question: How is the University ready to receive the Competency Based Curriculum products?

In his address, the Chairperson of MakRIF, Prof. Fred Masagazi Masaazi acknowledged the President of the Republic of Uganda, H.E President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, the Ministry of Education and Sports, and the National Curriculum Development Centre for the support extended to Makerere University College of Education and External Studies in the execution of its mandate.
Underscoring the re-tooling processes such as the training workshop in Competency Based Curriculum, Prof. Masagazi Masaazi advocated for regular training workshops and the continuous professional development of staff.
Noting that a significant number of Ugandans were yet to understand and appreciate the new Competency Based Curriculum, he urged the academic staff to sensitize stakeholders about the new curriculum. He encouraged them to come up with research projects aimed at popularizing the new curriculum.
Building on to the general observations and remarks from the Dean of the School of Education, the Project Principal Investigator and Prof. Masagazi Masaazi, a seasoned academic and educationist,the stage was set for a highly interactive and hands-on training workshop delivered by resource persons from the National Curriculum Development Centre and experts in the education field.
Mr. Mathias Mulumba Mutema, a facilitator from National Curriculum Development Centre, constituted smaller groups consisting of lecturers of teaching methods and content areas into interactive and participatory sessions aimed at understanding and appreciating the changes in Uganda’s education system as well as the delivery and effective implementation of the new lower secondary school curriculum.

He shared a famous quote by John Dewey: “If we teach today as we taught yesterday, we rob our children of tomorrow.” Highlighting a typical example in the traditional approach, which was teacher-centred and based on a one-sided approach of receiving instructions from the teacher, Mr. Mulumba Mutema appealed to the teachers and participants to forget statements such as, “if you do not produce the notes the way I taught you, you will score zero.” He pointed out that such instructions do not have a place as stakeholders implement the new Competency Based Curriculum, which emphasizes the learner’s voice and choices.
He explained that the new curriculum is about usage of situations, illustrations, photos, examples, statements to enable the learner interpret real-life experiences and solve societal challenges.
Dr. Mulumba Mutema presented the features of traditional education versus Competence Based education citing the Motivis Learning, 2017. The traditional education is time based, passive learning, fragmented curriculum, isolation, textbook driven, teacher-centered, print, facts and memorization. Competency based education is outcome-based, provides for active learning, integrated curriculum, collaboration, research driven, student centered, multi-media and high order thinking.
One of the training sessions involved turning the teacher educators and lecturers into learners under the new Competency Based Curriculum, to discuss the successes and challenges of the new curriculum.
The workshop participants pointed out the following successes: Innovativeness, Acquisition and Application of skills, Increased learner self-confidence, spending more time learning rather than copying notes, more interest in learning and relevance-solving societal problems.
Some of the challenges of the Competence Based Curriculum registered during this training session included: Shortage of learning materials, transition challenges from traditional to competence based, none involvement of parents, the need for large spaces compared to the existing infrastructure, integrity issues in assessment, interpretation of assessments, stakeholders’ knowledge gaps about the new curriculum.
At the climax, the participants testified that the new curriculum ignites creativity and critical thinking with the learner being an active participant; it is anchored in real life situations and experiences, and it engages the learner and promotes team work.
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