The Ministry of Education and Sports is planning to merge the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) and the National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC) into a single institution.
The proposed merger is among the key reforms contained in the forthcoming Curriculum, Assessment and Admissions Bill, one of the education sector laws recently highlighted by President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni as being in the government’s legislative pipeline.
According to Brighton Barugahare, Commissioner in charge of policy analysis and research at the Ministry of Education and Sports, the merger is as part of wider reforms aimed at improving efficiency, reducing costs in government entities.
Barugahare adds that the move is intended to eliminate duplication of functions and address fragmented decision-making within the education sector.
The two institutions already perform complementary roles.
While NCDC is responsible for curriculum design, including teaching, learning and assessment frameworks, UNEB mainly conducts end-of-cycle national examinations.
Under the proposed arrangement, neither curriculum development nor assessment functions will be abolished. Instead, they would be placed under a single institution with separate directorates responsible for the different mandates.
By URN
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