The National Council for Curriculum Development (NCDC) is seeking Shs17 billion for a comprehensive review of the upper secondary school curriculum and the printing and distribution of learning materials for primary one to three.
According to the NCDC Director, Dr. Bernadette Nambi who appeared before the Committee on Education on 08 April 2026, the funding which has not been provided for in the 2026/2027 budget is also intended to support the training of teachers on the revised curriculum.
Nambi said the funding will also facilitate the training of teachers to effectively implement the revised curriculum and boost staffing levels from 57 per cent to 65 per cent.
“The NCDC structure provides for 236 employees and out of these only 135 have been recruited. This has led to staff burnout consequences, yet considering the ongoing curriculum review, we need additional staff,” said Nambi.
She added that priorities like office accommodation and transport are not catered for in the Shs41 billion allocated to the centre in the next financial year.
The Chairperson of the Committee, Hon. James Kubeketerya tasked NCDC to strengthen public sensitisation on the revised curriculum, citing widespread concerns among teachers and parents.
“If you have a public relations office, let it triple its efforts because whenever I go to radios, people say they do not understand the new curriculum; it should be in your outreach programmes,” Kubeketerya said.
Kashari South County Member of Parliament, Hon. Nathan Itungo called on the centre to provide detailed justification for the additional funding.
“You have said that the primary curriculum is not well aligned with lower secondary curriculum, that it is outdated and has errors, show us those errors, the redundancies and repetitions so that you can be supported,” Itungo said.
Itungo warned that limited staffing could undermine efforts to improve the quality of education.
UPDF Representative, Hon. Jennifer Alanyo commended NCDC for rolling out the teaching of Kiswahili, training of 956 teachers on the Primary Four Kiswahili curriculum in the Eastern region and urged the centre to expand the initiative to other parts of the country.
