The Ministry of Education and Sports is planning to merge the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) and the National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC) into a single institution, according to officials familiar with the proposal.
The merger is among the key reforms contained in the forthcoming Curriculum, Assessment and Admissions Bill, one of several education sector laws recently highlighted by President Yoweri Museveni as being in the government’s legislative pipeline.
Brighton Barugahare, Commissioner in charge of policy analysis and research at the Ministry of Education, said the merger is part of wider reforms aimed at improving efficiency and reducing costs in government entities. He added that the move is intended to eliminate duplication of functions and address fragmented decision-making within the education sector.
The two institutions already perform complementary roles. NCDC is responsible for curriculum design, including teaching, learning, and assessment frameworks, while UNEB mainly conducts end-of-cycle national examinations such as the Primary Leaving Examination (PLE), Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE), and Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE).
Under the proposed arrangement, neither function would be abolished. Instead, they would be placed under a single institution with separate directorates responsible for the different mandates.
“These are just complementary functions, and bringing them under one institution will improve coordination and reduce fragmentation in planning and decision-making,” Barugahare said.
He noted that the two agencies already have overlapping governance structures, including representation from the Ministry of Education and cross-membership on their respective boards.
Barugahare argued that internationally, curriculum development and assessment are often managed under the same institution. He added that Uganda’s Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) has further strengthened the case for integration because assessment is now embedded throughout the teaching and learning process rather than being confined to final examinations.
“Assessment is no longer only about what happens at the end of the cycle. Schools conduct continuous assessment on a daily basis, and these processes require coherent guidance linked directly to curriculum development,” he explained.
The proposal echoes recommendations made by the Amanya Mushega-led Education Policy Review Commission. That commission recommended the creation of a National Curriculum and Assessment Authority by merging curriculum and assessment bodies operating at both basic and advanced education levels.
“The Commission notes that R5 on the merging of all curriculum and assessment bodies applies,” the commission’s report reads. “NCDC, UNEB, and other assessment bodies under the Basic and Advanced levels should be merged under one body with respective directorates to develop curriculum and assessment frameworks for both the academic and skills tracks.”
Although the commission’s report is yet to be adopted through a government white paper, discussions on merging the two institutions had already begun before the report was released.
The name and structure of the proposed institution have not yet been made public. However, sources indicate that both UNEB and NCDC have previously expressed reservations about the merger, citing concerns over institutional autonomy and mandate preservation.
Neither institution has publicly commented on the latest developments.
The government has already adopted a similar approach in the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) sector, where curriculum development, assessment, and certification functions were consolidated under the Uganda Vocational and Technical Assessment Board (UVTAB) and the Uganda Health Professions Assessment Board (UHPAB).
Those two boards develop curricula in consultation with relevant stakeholders while also conducting assessments and overseeing certification.
NCDC was established in 1973 to centralize and localize the curriculum, ensuring that learning content reflects national priorities and the country’s social and economic needs.
UNEB was created in 1983 following the collapse of the East African Examinations Council, taking over responsibility for administering national examinations.
For more than four decades, the two institutions have operated separately. The proposed merger would represent one of the most significant structural changes to Uganda’s education governance in a generation.
The Curriculum, Assessment and Admissions Bill, which contains the merger proposal, is expected to be tabled before Parliament as part of the government’s legislative agenda. Once the bill is introduced, lawmakers will have an opportunity to scrutinise the proposed reforms, hear stakeholder concerns, and make amendments before any merger can take effect.
For now, the Ministry of Education appears committed to the integration, arguing that it will improve efficiency, reduce costs, and better align curriculum and assessment under the Competency-Based Curriculum. But the reservations reportedly expressed by UNEB and NCDC suggest that the proposal may face resistance before it becomes law.
