When Curriculum Reform Meets School Reality: Learner Perspectives, Implementation and School Retention in Selected Secondary Schools in Bushenyi-Ishaka Municipality, Uganda

Horace Humble Ngabirano

doi:10.36948/ijfmr.2026.v08i05.89455

When Curriculum Reform Meets School Reality: Learner Perspectives, Implementation and School Retention in Selected Secondary Schools in Bushenyi-Ishaka Municipality, Uganda

Author(s)	Mr. Horace Humble Ngabirano
Country	Uganda
Abstract	Uganda's competency-based lower secondary curriculum was introduced to shift teaching from content coverage towards practical, learner-centered and transferable competencies. Whether that shift supports continued school participation depends on how learners experience the curriculum and on the capacity of schools and families to sustain its implementation. This convergent, multi-source study examined learner perspectives alongside school records in four purposively selected secondary schools in Bushenyi-Ishaka Municipality. The study involved 252 participants: 240 learners, 8 teachers and 4 head teachers. The quantitative analysis reported item-level means, standard deviations and descriptive 95% confidence intervals for the 240 learner questionnaires. Teacher and head teacher evidence was collected to contextualise implementation, while school and Parent-Teacher Association records for 2021-2024 were organised in a documentary matrix and integrated with learner findings through a joint display. Learners strongly valued CBC's practical orientation (M = 4.33, SD = 0.917, 95% CI [4.21, 4.45]) and many attributed part of their continued attendance to CBC (M = 4.07, SD = 1.095, 95% CI [3.93, 4.21]). They also identified the cost of projects and materials as a serious concern (M = 4.10, SD = 1.008, 95% CI [3.97, 4.23]). Documentary indicators suggested constrained implementation, including limited teacher orientation, inadequate textbooks and restricted project resources. Senior One intake reportedly increased by approximately 20% between 2021 and 2023, while the study's administrative progression indicator declined by approximately 14%; cost concerns appeared in records from all four schools. The findings show that learners may value a curriculum even when implementation conditions are insufficient to sustain progression. CBC may strengthen relevance and engagement, but retention remains shaped by teacher preparation, institutional resources, household affordability and wider post-pandemic pressures. The study calls for equity-sensitive financing, continuous teacher development and cohort-based monitoring. Because raw school-level cohort counts were unavailable in the analytic file, the enrolment and progression figures are interpreted as descriptive administrative trends rather than causal effects.
Keywords	Keywords: competency-based curriculum; learner engagement; school retention; curriculum implementation; educational equity; mixed methods; Bushenyi; Uganda
Field	Sociology > Education
Published In	Volume 8, Issue 5, September-October 2026
Published On	2026-10-14
DOI	https://doi.org/10.36948/ijfmr.2026.v08i05.89455

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When Curriculum Reform Meets School Reality: Learner Perspectives, Implementation and School Retention in Selected Secondary Schools in Bushenyi-Ishaka Municipality, Uganda

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