Title: Custodians of the Curriculum: Mapping Training Material Ownership and the Imperative for Uniform Implementation of Uganda's Competency-Based Curriculum
Authors: Dr. Arinaitwe Julius
Dr. Twinomujuni Rosebell
Dr. Mategeko Betty
Volume: 10
Issue: 6
Pages: 458-466
Publication Date: 2026/06/28
Abstract:
This study investigated the systemic linkages between training material ownership, institutional support structures, and the uniformity of executing the Lower Secondary Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) across Uganda's educational ecosystem. Adopting an advanced cross-sectional, ex-post facto, and explanatory quantitative research design, the investigation sampled 420 secondary schools spanning the Central, Eastern, Western, and Northern administrative regions of Uganda. Data collection was strictly executed through validated, highly structured, multi-dimensional psychometric questionnaires administered via stratified multi-stage sampling. Methodologically, the gathered empirical data was analyzed using an expansive suite of statistical methods, moving from descriptive univariate frequency distributions and central tendencies to bivariate Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) multi-variable linear regressions, and culminating in an intricate Structural Equation Model (SEM) evaluated through Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MLE) to decompose direct, indirect, and total system pathways. The empirical findings revealed a stark and severe deficit in localized training material ownership among classroom teachers, with the nationwide mean score stagnating at a low 32.4% (SD = 11.2%). This fragmentation generated severe disparities in the pedagogical execution of CBC mandates. The bivariate regression models verified that educator material ownership was a potent predictor of implementation uniformity, accounting for a substantial proportion of cross-school variance (? = 0.52, p < 0.001). Furthermore, the comprehensive Structural Equation Model demonstrated that Institutional Support acted as a partial mediator between localized material ownership and execution fidelity, yielding an impressive overall structural coefficient (Total Effect = 0.59, p < 0.001) and explaining 61% of the total variance in operational compliance. It was statistically concluded that the persistent unevenness of the CBC rollout across Uganda is not a mere structural aberration but an direct epiphenomenon of content alienation; when teachers rely on centrally dictated, inaccessible, or commercialized syllabus frameworks without authentic institutional internalization or personal ownership of teaching manuals, instructional standardization disintegrates. Consequently, this study recommends that the Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES), alongside the National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC), immediately shift from a top-down, centralized distribution paradigm to a decentralized, co-creative, open-access curriculum model, establish institutionalized Teacher Training College networks for localized content development, and institute automated school-level digital dashboards to dynamically audit and track delivery uniformity nationwide, thereby transforming classroom educators from passive deliverers into authentic custodians of the curriculum.