The global transition toward Competency-Based Curricula (CBC) in higher education represents a fundamental reorientation from knowledge transmission to demonstrable skill application. Ugandan universities, guided by the National Council for Higher Education, have been mandated to fully transition to competence-based learning by the 2027/2028 academic year. However, the success of this ambitious reform depends critically on the human infrastructure tasked with its implementation: academic staff. This conceptual review examines the relationship between academic staff welfare and CBC implementation readiness in Ugandan universities. Drawing on Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory, the study synthesizes evidence from existing literature to demonstrate that poor remuneration, job insecurity, excessive workloads, and inadequate professional development act as powerful hygiene factors that demotivate faculty and directly undermine the pedagogical shifts required for CBC. The review identifies specific welfare dimensions that most significantly affect CBC readiness and proposes a conceptual framework linking welfare conditions to implementation outcomes. The analysis concludes that without strategic investment in holistic academic staff welfare—financial, professional, and psychological—CBC implementation in Uganda will remain a symbolic policy exercise rather than a transformative reality. This review contributes to the literature on higher education reform in developing contexts by foregrounding the often-neglected human factor in curriculum change and provides evidence-based recommendations for integrating staff welfare into national CBC implementation strategies.
Richard Wemesa, Christopher Wagima, Mpaata Ibrahim Kaziba et al.· Journal of scientific report...· 0 citations
Uganda's transition to competency-based education and training represent one of the most significant pedagogical and regulatory reforms in contemporary African education policy. This article critically examines the legal and policy frameworks underpinning this transition at national, regional, continental, and international levels. Through a qualitative case study design employing document analysis and the IRAC framework for legal analysis, the study draws on parliamentary records, assessment data, labour market surveys, and recent scholarly literature. The findings reveal a fundamental implementation paradox: institutional compliance with regulatory mandates coexists with persistent deficiencies in applied competencies that competency-based education was designed to cultivate. Despite possessing one of the most progressive legal frameworks in Sub-Saharan Africa, Uganda faces significant challenges including definitional ambiguity in the Technical and Vocational Education and Training Act 2025, delayed issuance of subsidiary legislation for the Skills Development Levy, inadequate teacher preparedness, resource disparities across institutions, and weak industry engagement mechanisms. The study identifies three interrelated gaps: legislative ambiguity, institutional capacity deficits, and absence of outcome-based accountability. These gaps are compounded by regional and gender disparities, with labour underutilization reaching 58.3% among youth aged 15-19. The article concludes that sustainable reform requires moving beyond regulatory compulsion toward outcome-based accountability, genuine industry partnership, equitable resource distribution, and policy coherence across national, regional, and international frameworks. Evidence from across Sub-Saharan Africa confirms that legal mandate alone is insufficient without congruent resource allocation, pedagogical transformation, and sustained stakeholder engagement. The article offers targeted recommendations for legislative amendment, regulatory development, and equity sensitive implementation.
Mpaata Ibrahim Kaziba, Richard Wemesa, Joshua Mwesigye et al.· Journal of scientific report...· 0 citations
