Early Years
New Nursery Curriculum Rolls Out With Expanded Learning Areas
8 June 2026 · Source: National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC)
Alongside new standards for nursery school operations, the National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC) has unveiled a redesigned nursery curriculum to replace the Learning Framework for Early Childhood Development that has been in place since 2005.
The new curriculum expands learning areas from five to seven, and introduces cursive handwriting — locally referred to as “kanana munana” — at nursery level, intended to support brain development, concentration and early writing skills. School hours for nursery classes will shift slightly later, from 8:00am–12:00pm to 8:30am–12:30pm, and the Ministry has directed that nursery-age children should not be given homework, with all learning activities completed within the school day.
The revised framework follows a 2022 study that found the previous curriculum too difficult for many teachers to interpret and apply consistently in the classroom. A pilot will run in 20 nursery schools — five per region — before a full national rollout.
Early years learning sets the tone for everything that follows, and we’re glad to see national policy catching up with what good nursery practice has always required: shorter, focused learning, plenty of guided play, and no pressure to bring “work” home at age four or five.
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Early Years
New National Standards for Nursery Schools — What Parents Should Know
27 April 2026 · Source: Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES)
The Ministry of Education and Sports has issued the country’s first comprehensive national standards specifically for pre-primary (nursery) education, aimed at raising quality and consistency across Uganda’s nursery schools.
Under the new Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) framework, the teacher-to-learner ratio has been tightened from 1:40 to a maximum of 1:25, and nursery class sizes are now capped at 25 learners. Ministry data cited to justify the reform showed that only around 10% of Uganda’s roughly 28,000 operational pre-primary schools were registered, and just 30% licensed — prompting the introduction of mandatory national licensing and professional requirements for ECCE teachers and caregivers.
The policy also separates childcare services for children under three from structured early learning for ages three to five, meaning nursery schools and standalone daycare centres can no longer operate under a single licence.
For parents choosing a nursery school, the new standards give a clear, government-backed benchmark for what quality early years provision should look like — smaller classes, qualified caregivers, and proper licensing. We welcome the added clarity this brings to the sector and will continue to monitor implementation guidance from the Ministry.
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Curriculum
Government to Cut Lower Primary Subjects From Eight to Four
14 April 2026 · Source: National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC)
The Ministry of Education and Sports, through the National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC), has announced a major review of the lower primary curriculum (P.1 to P.3), reducing the number of subjects from eight to four.
Under the new framework, the four consolidated learning areas will be Religious Education, Mathematics, Literacy, and Livelihood Studies — with subjects such as Physical Education, Creative and Performing Arts, and Integrated Science folded into these broader areas rather than taught separately. The reform is intended to shift lower primary learning toward skills and competence rather than content memorisation, addressing concerns that the current curriculum is teacher-centred and overloaded.
The revised curriculum will also introduce Kiswahili from Primary Three. A pilot phase is planned for selected public and private schools in 2027, ahead of a nationwide rollout targeted for 2028.
We will follow NCDC’s implementation guidance closely as it is released, and will keep Axis parents informed well ahead of any changes that affect our own Nursery-to-Primary curriculum planning.
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Ministry of Education
Ministry Releases Official 2026 School Calendar
9 January 2026 · Source: Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES)
The Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES) has released the official calendar for the 2026 academic year, confirming term dates for all primary and secondary institutions nationwide.
First Term runs from Monday, 2nd February to Friday, 1st May, with a holiday break from 2nd to 24th May. Second Term begins on 25th May and closes on 22nd August, followed by a short break before Third Term opens on 14th September and runs to 4th December. In total, learners will complete 260 instructional days across the three terms.
The Ministry also confirmed school hours for the year: primary and post-primary institutions are to operate from 8:00am to 4:30pm, while pre-primary (nursery) sections run from 8:00am to 12:00pm. Co-curricular activities, including inter-school music, dance and drama competitions, are scheduled progressively through the year — at school level in First Term, district level in Second Term, and nationally in Third Term.
Parents are encouraged to plan around the official dates, particularly for travel and boarding arrangements. We align our own term dates and School Updates ticker with the Ministry’s published calendar, and will flag any local adjustments as early as possible.
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