Article Gold Open Access 2025

Reflection on science competence-based curriculum implementation in Sub-Saharan African countries

International Journal of Science Education
Journal · Vol. 47 · Issue 8 · pp. 1071-1084
Abstract

Based on the qualitative data gathered from the existing literature pertaining to science curriculum with analytical and critical research designs, this article considers the implementation of the science Competence-Based Curriculum (CBC) in Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. The study findings reveal that even though the CBC has been introduced in different SSA countries to enhance the quality of education, the science curriculum is still implemented in traditional ways. Consequently, CBC is not effectively addressing socio-economic needs as intended, at both individual and national level. The authors are concerned with how CBC is being implemented in other SSA countries that recently have adopted this kind of curriculum and how it will be implemented in other SSA countries that are planning to embrace it. In this paper, the authors suggest ways the new ideas could be introduced and reflect on how CBC can be implemented in SSA countries that share socio-economic and environmental similarities. They finally strongly recommend the establishment of special ‘laboratory’ schools or science education centres as well as school-based communities of practice to enhance teachers’ content knowledge and nurture contemporary teaching methods for the successful implementation of the new ideas. © 2024 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Keywords

Author Keywords

Reflection Sub-Saharan Africa Competence-based curriculum science curriculum implementation

Index Keywords

Author Affiliations
University of Rwanda, Butare, Rwanda
Graduate School, Naruto University of Education, Naruto, Tokushima, Japan
Funding & Acknowledgements
African Centre of Excellence for Innovative Teaching and Learning Mathematics and Science, University of Rwanda, ACEITLMS
Our thanks go to Professor John M. Rogan for his inspiration in science education as well as reviewing this paper and Professor Carol Merz Frankel for English language editing. We express our sincere appreciation to the African Centre of Excellence for Innovative Teaching Mathematics and Science (ACEITLMS) for the financial support that allows the first author to present the original manuscript of this paper in Distance Education and Teachers\u2019 Training in Africa (DETA) conference.
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