NCDC Director Bernadette Nambi said teachers must be equipped with new teaching approaches that integrate critical thinking, research, problem-solving and values without compromising academic depth.
Parliament’s Education Committee has received urgent funding requests from three key education institutions seeking more than sh118 billion in additional resources for the 2026/27 financial year.
The institutions—National Council for Higher Education (NCHE), National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC), and Uganda National Institute for Teacher Education (UNITE)—say the funds are necessary to support Uganda’s transition to a competence-based education system and to strengthen oversight, teacher training, and institutional capacity.
NCHE Seeks Sh39bn for Regulation and Monitoring
While appearing before the committee on Monday, NCHE Executive Director Mary Nakhanda Okwakol said the council requires sh39.097 billion to cover unfunded priorities and new costs linked to the shift to competence-based education.
According to Prof. Nakhanda, sh31.814 billion arises from unfunded and underfunded priorities in last year’s framework paper, while an additional sh7.283 billion is required to manage new regulatory demands created by the education reforms.
“Part of these funds will facilitate the accreditation of 900 new and revised programmes that are currently unfunded,” she said.
Currently, NCHE has resources to accredit only 600 programmes, leaving a funding gap of sh1.275 billion.
The council is also struggling to monitor universities and tertiary institutions due to limited funding for inspections. While only 90 monitoring visits are currently financed, at least 180 routine inspections are required nationwide, creating a shortfall of about sh2 billion.
Additional costs include sh1.7 billion needed to support institutions transitioning to new standards under the competence-based system, bringing the total transition cost for education and training to sh4.975 billion.
Transport limitations are another major challenge. NCHE currently operates only seven field vehicles for the entire country, limiting its ability to deploy inspection teams simultaneously across regions. Procuring seven additional vehicles and covering operational expenses would require sh2.308 billion.
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“If we don’t have this transport, we will have backlogs in programme accreditation and limited monitoring of institutional compliance,” Prof. Nakhanda warned.
She added that sh7.28 billion is required to strengthen regulatory effectiveness under the new competence-based framework.
Government Urged to Fully Fund the Sector
Peter Ogwang, who led the ministerial team before the committee, urged legislators to allocate the requested funds.
“Imagine transport, how are you going to check on universities and tertiary institutions if they can’t even move?” he asked.
NCDC Raises Concerns Over Teacher Preparedness
Meanwhile, NCDC officials told lawmakers that the transition to competence-based learning requires extensive teacher training over the next five years.
NCDC Director Bernadette Nambi said teachers must be equipped with new teaching approaches that integrate critical thinking, research, problem-solving and values without compromising academic depth.
“Teachers must be grounded in integrating critical thinking, research, problem-solving and values without compromising academic depth, especially at upper-secondary level where specialisation is deeper,” Dr. Nambi said.
However, legislators raised concerns about the pace and quality of teacher training.
Connie Nakayenze revealed that some trained teachers were charging their colleagues for training and even withholding key information.
“Many teachers in rural areas are still grappling; they don’t know what to do,” she said, urging the Ministry of Education to use the December–January school holidays to conduct regional training sessions.
Michael Timuzigu proposed introducing certification after training so that outstanding teachers could serve as trainers of trainers during curriculum weeks.
Minister Ogwang welcomed the proposal, saying it could be discussed at senior management level as part of continuous professional development.
Nathan Itungo also asked the ministry to provide the total number of teachers nationwide, noting that without the figure Parliament cannot assess the impact of the training programme. So far, NCDC has trained 12,593 teachers.
Ogwang admitted that financial constraints are the main obstacle.
“If we had all the money, why wouldn’t we train all of them? The challenge is money,” he said.
Dorothy Nyakato added that training alone is not enough and urged the ministry to conduct research to confirm that teachers are actually implementing the new curriculum in classrooms.
UNITE Requests sh79.8 Billion for Full Operations
The largest funding request came from UNITE, which is seeking sh79.8 billion to fully operationalise the institute in the 2026/27 financial year.
UNITE Principal Betty Ezati told the committee that operational challenges and unclear legal provisions have slowed the integration of Primary Teachers’ Colleges since the institute took over the National Teachers’ Colleges in 2024.
Currently, UNITE has recruited only 92 staff—about 8.3 percent of its required workforce—and just 67 out of 244 qualified tutors from the former National Teachers’ Colleges.
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The institute’s funding request includes sh35 billion to recruit 410 additional staff to reach 50 percent staffing capacity, sh7 billion for operational costs, sh6 billion for continuous professional development, and sh2 billion for research and community outreach.
Other priorities include sh2.8 billion for administrative support, sh5.7 billion for constructing a new administration block, gate and parking area, sh3.7 billion for transport equipment, and sh6 billion to remove asbestos roofing during phased renovations.
UNITE is also seeking sh2 billion for furniture and sh6 billion for ICT equipment.
In the current 2025/26 financial year, the institute received only sh23.9 billion—sh9.2 billion for wages, sh11.6 billion for non-wage expenditure and sh3 billion for development—leaving a funding gap of sh79.8 billion.
Reform at Risk Without Funding
Across the presentations, officials warned that Uganda’s competence-based education reforms could stall without adequate funding.
They cautioned that underfunding could delay programme accreditation, weaken monitoring of institutions, leave teachers insufficiently prepared and slow the development of institutions responsible for training the next generation of educators.
Minister Ogwang emphasized the urgency of the situation.
“These bodies need to get out and do their work,” he said. “We must support them.”