Title: Regulatory Gaps and Enforcement Deficits: A Cross-National Comparison of Competence-Based Education Policy in East Africa
Authors: Dr. Arinaitwe Julius, Dr. Twinomujuni Rosebell, Asiimwe Isaac Kazaara
Volume: 10
Issue: 8
Pages: 282-290
Publication Date: 2026/08/28
Abstract:
This study examined the regulatory gaps and enforcement deficits that shape the implementation of competence-based education (CBE) policy across four East African countries — Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, and Rwanda — with particular attention to how regulatory clarity, enforcement capacity, and resource adequacy jointly influenced whether schools engaged in substantive pedagogical compliance or merely performative, paperwork-oriented compliance. Guided by an institutional-implementation framework, the study adopted a cross-national comparative survey design, drawing a stratified sample of 420 respondents (105 per country) comprising teachers, head teachers, district education inspectors, and curriculum officers. Data were collected using a structured, validated questionnaire measuring five latent constructs — regulatory clarity, enforcement capacity, resource adequacy, substantive compliance, and implementation fidelity — each captured through multiple Likert-scaled indicator items. Data were analysed in three stages: univariate description of respondent characteristics and construct-level scores, bivariate analysis using one-way ANOVA and Pearson correlation to test cross-national differences and construct associations, and structural equation modelling (SEM) to test a hypothesised path model linking regulatory and resource antecedents to implementation fidelity through substantive compliance. Results showed statistically significant cross-national differences on all five constructs (p < .001), with Rwanda consistently reporting the highest regulatory clarity, enforcement capacity, and implementation fidelity scores, and Tanzania the lowest. Bivariate correlations confirmed strong positive associations between substantive compliance and implementation fidelity (r = .63, p < .001), while the structural model demonstrated excellent fit (CFI = .997, TLI = .996, RMSEA = .023) and confirmed that enforcement capacity was the strongest predictor of substantive compliance (? = .47, p < .001), which in turn was the strongest predictor of implementation fidelity (? = .41, p < .001). The findings indicate that regulatory frameworks alone are insufficient to drive genuine curriculum reform; enforcement capacity and resource adequacy operate as necessary complements that convert regulatory intent into classroom-level practice. The study concludes that closing the enforcement deficit, rather than merely tightening regulatory text, is the more decisive lever for translating CBE policy into substantive rather than performative compliance, and it offers recommendations for regional harmonization of monitoring systems, investment in inspectorate capacity, and resource-linked compliance incentives.