education 13 May 2026 Daily Monitor (Uganda)
Ugandan Teachers Urged to Align Lessons with Evolving Family Realities
A recent incident where a child's correct answer about family leadership was marked wrong has sparked debate about the need for Ugandan teachers to make their lessons and assessments more inclusive of diverse modern family structures. Source: https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/education/are-your-lessons-relatable-to-learners--5457478
A dispute between a parent and a school in Kampala has highlighted a growing disconnect between traditional classroom teaching and the evolving realities of Ugandan families. The incident occurred when a teacher marked a student’s answer “mother” as incorrect for the question “Who heads a family?”, insisting the traditional answer of “father” was correct.
The parent argued that her daughter’s answer was accurate for their household, where she is the sole provider and head. This situation underscores a critical challenge facing educators: ensuring that teaching materials, examples, and assessments are relevant and sensitive to the diverse family dynamics present in learners’ lives.
Education experts are calling for teachers to move beyond rigid, traditional assumptions. Head teachers like John Bosco Mutebi and Amon Kansiime emphasize that while the national curriculum may still contain older concepts, schools must adapt their practices. Mutebi notes his school has rigorous review processes for exam papers to ensure they are sensitive and relevant to current society, warning that conservative approaches can lead to conflict with parents.
Amon Kansiime further stresses that the issue lies with teachers failing to adapt, not with the curriculum itself. He advocates for avoiding opinion-based questions on sensitive topics and updating materials to reflect societal changes in family structures, technology, and roles. Halima Kirabira, a teacher, echoes this sentiment, urging educators to keep pace with trends and teach what is necessary for the current time.
Bernadette Nambi Karuhanga, Executive Director of the National Curriculum Development Center (NCDC), has asserted that the curriculum does not mandate a father as the head of the family, implying that teachers asking such outdated questions are the problem.
As a new school term begins, educators are encouraged to reflect on their teaching methods. Questions arise about whether test questions assume a two-parent household, if examples reflect only one family type, and if answers based on a child’s lived experience are unfairly penalized.
Source: Daily Monitor (Uganda)