Is Uganda’s Competency-Based Curriculum Truly Transformative, Why Leaders Aren’t Using It for Their Own Children?

By Amiri Wabusimba.

The Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) has been hailed as a transformative agenda aimed at equipping Ugandan learners with practical skills and critical thinking abilities for the modern world. While policymakers and political leaders trumpet this initiative as a transformative agenda, their actions betray a troubling disconnect from the realities faced by ordinary Ugandans. The most stinging irony lies in the fact that those championing the CBC policymakers, political leaders, and government officials have opted out of the very system they impose on ordinary Ugandans.

Many of these leaders, who rose to prominence with the support of the very communities now burdened by the CBC’s challenges, seem to have forgotten their roots. Instead of championing equitable access to quality education for all, they sideline public schools for elite international institutions, leaving their brothers and sisters those who helped elevate them struggling within a broken system. This hypocrisy is painfully evident, as leaders who claim to represent the masses do not share the same struggles as those they govern.

This raises a critical question: If the CBC is truly the pathway to national development and transformation, why are leaders unwilling to entrust their children’s future to it? The taxpayers, who fund these reforms, are left to grapple with a system that their leaders avoid, creating an educational apartheid designed to perpetuate inequality rather than alleviate it. This contradiction is not just a betrayal of public trust but a direct affront to the millions of Ugandans who look to education as a ladder to social and economic progress.

For Uganda to achieve the transformative promise of the CBC, the government must address this hypocrisy head-on. A bold reform would include limiting the enrollment of political and public officials’ children in international schools and requiring them to participate in the very system they advocate. The people who trusted these leaders with power deserve more than empty promises and policies that deepen existing disparities. By enrolling their children in CBC schools, leaders would demonstrate genuine faith in its potential and inspire public confidence in the curriculum. Such a policy would not only bridge the divide between the privileged and the ordinary citizen but also ensure that those in power are directly invested in addressing the systemic challenges of the CBC.

Equally critical is the need for comprehensive investment in the CBC’s infrastructure. Schools, especially in rural areas, must be equipped with adequate resources, including ICT tools, electricity, and access to modern teaching materials. Teachers must receive continuous professional development to align with the demands of the new curriculum. Moreover, the government must foster partnerships with the private sector and global education bodies to enhance the CBC’s credibility and competitiveness on the international stage.

True transformation in education requires leaders who are willing to share in the struggles and triumphs of the system they implement. The CBC offers immense potential to prepare Uganda’s learners for a globalized future, but its success depends on equity, accountability, and shared commitment. The future of this nation depends on a collective effort to bridge the gap between policy and reality. Uganda’s learners deserve more than empty rhetoric; they deserve a system that prepares them for a globalized world. If the CBC is to be the foundation of national development, it must be championed by leaders who genuinely believe in its promise and are willing to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the people they serve.

Author is a diplomatic Scholar, Journalist, political analyst and Human Right activist.

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