Marking scheme for new secondary curriculum out

NEW CURRICULUM |

The National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC) has concluded the development of the marking criteria for the lower secondary school curriculum.

According to guidelines for the school-based assessment, it will account for 20% of the national examinations at Senior Four.

Students will also undertake four practical projects per term, making it 12 projects annually from Senior One to Senior Three. By the time they are in Senior Four, students must have undertaken 36 projects.

Cumulatively, the classroom projects alongside the extra-curricular activities such as music, dance and drama, football, netball and physical education, will account for the 20% mark.

The Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) will account for 80% of marks a student gets at O'level.

John Okumu, the head of Secondary School Curriculum at NCDC, said the guidelines on school-based assessment will guide teachers to mark students' projects.

He said it will also stipulate the management of marks and how they will be sent to the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) for consideration.

"The new curriculum recognises the learners' abilities. Students will have projects that run for weeks, months before results are wired to UNEB," Okumu said.

In addition, he said, students with leadership skills such as prefects and councillors will be awarded marks.

"These will not be free marks. We will require evidence confirming that these projects were done by learners. Students will have portfolios which will be linked with the UNEB data," he said.

NCDC will train teachers at regional level on how the assessment will be handled.

For projects which were to be done this year, Okumu said, they will be carried forward to the respective classes once the lower classes return to school.

How projects will be handled

As part of the proposals in the assessment guidelines, each subject, including English language and history, will have a practical component.

Under English language, curriculum specialists have proposed that students will write at least two chapters of a book and present if for marking. There are other proposed projects such as editing and transcribing of already presented materials.

In agriculture, students will be tasked with preparing nursery beds, look after them, and transfer the seedlings to a garden.

Schools to record data

After marking, students' projects, marks will be recorded by the schools the sent to UNEB.

However, for the marks to be sent to UNEB, all students must obtain their National Identifi cation Numbers (NIN).

Instead of having the registration with UNEB for the final examinations at Senior Four, the exercise will start from Senior One and use the NIN instead of a registration number.

Currently, UNEB runs an online portal where all candidates register. The same infrastructure will be used to record students' projects scores from Senior One to Three.

Godfrey Ntubiro, a curriculum specialist at NCDC who was part of the team that developed the marking guidelines, said: "Each school will be responsible for wiring every students' assessment marks to UNEB."

The reduction in classroom time implies that instead of starting classes at 8:00 am to 4:00 pm, teachers will have to start at 8:00 am and end at about 2:50 pm.

The remaining time will be used by students to either develop their projects, research or develop talents through playing.

PE examinable

As part of the new curriculum, physical education (PE), will be examinable by Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) under UCE examinations.

Although PE has been one of the compulsory subjects in primary schools, it lacked a syllabus at the lower secondary level.

In the new PE syllabus, it will be compulsory for all learners in Senior One and Two and then optional for learners in Senior Three and Four.

PE will have two periods per week for Senior One and Two, and then four periods per week for learners in Senior Three and Four.

The PE syllabus emphasises learners' development of skills, values, and positive attitude towards healthy living through active lifestyles.