KYAMBOGO UNIVERSITY
DPARTMENT OF FOUNDATIONS AND EDUCATION PSYCHOLOGY
COURSE UNIT: FOUNDATION OF CURRICULUM, CURRICULUM DESIGN AND
DEVELOPMENT
LECTURER: MS. NAMASABA REBECCA
GROUP 9 COURSEWORK
S/N NAME REGISTRATION SIGNATURE
NUMBER
1 APIO CATHERINE 25/U/AED/14369/PD
2 MUTESI RACHEAL 25/U/AED/15019/PD
3 IRONE WINNIFRED 25/U/AED/14673/PD
4 BIRUNGI CATHERINE 25/U/AED/14537/PD
5 NAMAJJA VICTORIA 25/U/AED/15311/PD
6 AKWARE ESTHER MERCY 25/U/AED/14282/PD
7 NAKABUYE SYLIVIA 25/U/AED/15143/PD
8 AKATUKWASA SHELLINAH 25/U/AED/14251/PD
9 MWIRINGIRE MELVIN 25/U/AEE/15045/PE
10 ADONG GILLIAN 25/U/AED/14156/PD
A COMMUNITY BASED APPROACH TO REDUCING YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT
THROUGH CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT: THE “HANDS ON” SKILLS
CURRICULUM USING HILDA TABA’S GRASSROOTS MODEL.
PROJECT/CURRICULUM DESCRIPTION
Purpose of the curriculum
The purpose of curriculum is to reduce youth unemployment in Wakiso District by
developing and piloting a vocational skills program that originates from the actual labour
needs of the local community. Unlike the current UACE and BTVET curricula which are
largely theory based and centrally designed, this curriculum uses Hilda Taba’s Grassroots
Model to ensure learning content is directly demanded, validated and co-assessed by local
employers’ goal is to produce youth who are “job-ready” or “enterprise-ready” within 9
months.
Specific objectives:
[Link] identify specific skills gaps that make local employers reluctant to hire youth aged 18-30
[Link] equip 30 targeted youth with at least 2 income generating skills that local businesses
currently outsource or import.
[Link] increase household income of participants b UGX 200,000/month within 6 months of
graduation.
[Link] institutionalize community members as co-teachers and assessors, shifting from
“Ministry-down” to “community-up” curriculum design.
Targeted population
Primary target: unemployed and underemployed youth aged 18-30 years in kyengera town
council, Wakiso district.
Justification: UBOS data shows Wakiso has 18.7% youth unemployment, highest among pre-
urban districts.
Specific sub-groups:
1.S.4/S.6 leavers; completed secondary but lack capital for tertiary. Example Jane 19-year-old
S.6 leaver sells airtime but wants better income.
[Link] dropouts: Started DIT courses but dropped due to fees or irrelevance. Example:
Musa 22 dropped from plumbing course because no one hires apprentices here.
[Link] mothers and boda-boda riders: Need flexible quick-income skills for example Prossy,
aged 24, single mother needs skills she can do from home.
Secondary participants: These become part of the curriculum design team design team as Per
Taba’s model.
• Local employers: saloon owners, welders, Agri-dealers, kiosk owners
• Community leaders:LC1 chairpersons, parish Chiefs, VSLA secretaries
• Successful youth entrepreneurs: Act as role models and “Guest Masters”
Identified community challenge
Core problem: Youth unemployment caused by a curriculum-to-market mismatch.
Evidence from grassroots diagnosis in Kyengera:
[Link] testimony: I pay a man from Kampala UGX20,000 to make one poster for my
shop on his computer. Our youth have smartphones but can’t do it Kiosk owner.
[Link] testimony: We studied crop science, but nobody taught us how to sell tomatoes on
WhatsApp or keep [Link] we fear borrowing from the SACCO. -Focus group of S.6
leavers.
[Link] gap: Wakiso District labour report 2025:70% of businesses report “lack of
practical skills” as main reason for not hiring local youth, yet 82% of youth report “no jobs”
as main problem.
Summary: Schools produce “certificates” but community needs “competencies” it can pay for
immediately.
BODY OF THE CURRICULUM/PROJECT
Hilda Taba’s Grassroots Model 7 steps. Taba believed teachers should start by studying
learners and society before writing objectives. This makes curriculum relevant and dynamic.
Step 1: Diagnosis of Needs:
Process: The curriculum team of 4 teachers plus six community representatives conducted a
community Skills Audit for three weeks.
Methods and Tools
1. Key informant interviews:15 employees asked: “What task do you pay for weekly that
youth could do if trained?”
2. Observation: Spent two days each in Owino market, Kyengera welding hubs and three
farms.
3. Learner survey:50 Youth completed “skills and Asset” checklist.
Key findings with Examples:
Need identified Evidence Taba’s Implications
Digital marketing for 9/10 salon and boutique Content must include
Micro-Businesses owners per UGX 10k-30k phone-based graphic
per Canva poster to people design
outside kyengera
Agri-Record Keeping Farmers lose money Content must include
because they can’t track simple digital/book
sales vs expenses on cashbooks
mobile money. They trust
youth less than elders with
money
Basic Repair culture Community throws away Content must include 3
solar lamps and kettles due low-cost repair skills
to minor faults. Technicians
are in town 15km away
Learner Assets 68% of youth have Learning experiences must
smartphones;0% earn from use phones plus Village
them.40% are in Village Savings and Loan
Savings and Loan Association Structures
Associations VSLAs
The community does not need “more graduates” it needs “youth who can monetize a phone,
fix a kettle and count money.”
Step 2: Formulation of Specific Objectives
Hilda Taba: Objectives must be specific, behavioural and come from diagnosis written by
teachers plus 3 employers.
Examples of Behavioural Objectives:
[Link]: By the end of module 3, the learner will compute correct pricing for 5 common
market products to achieve 20% profit margin with 100% accuracy.
[Link]: By the end of module 1, the learner will design and send a customer -ready
promotional flyer for a local business using Canva mobile, meeting all 5 points on the
employer rubric.
[Link]: By the end of community placement, the learner will consistently report to
work by 8:00am and greet customers, as verified by mentor signature 8/10 days.
Step 3: Selection of Content
Taba’s Rule: Select only content that helps achieve objectives from step 2
Final four content Strands plus justification:
Strand Topics Community Validation
Example
[Link]-Value chain Mobile money farm records, Farmer John:
solar drying matooke, “If a youth can show me my
WhatsApp group sales, weekly profit on phone, I
simple branding will pay UGX5,000 per
week.”
[Link] Street Skills Canva posters, cap cut video Salon owner:
ads, mobile money merchant “I need 3 TikTok per week. I
till setup, Jumia online will pay UGX 10,000 each.”
sourcing
[Link] Service Liquid soap/Jik making, LC1:
Trades basic solar lamp repair, “We buy broken lamps if
briquette making youth fix them at UGX3,000
every home saves money.”
[Link] Math Costing, Pricing, Village SACCO leader:
Savings and Loan “Youth fear loans because
Associations loan tracking, they can’t calculate
boda-boda daily break-even repayment. Teach that.”
simple invoice
Step 4: Organization of Content
Taba: Uses Spiral Curriculum plus integrate theory with practice. Organized as a 9-month
programme,3 terms.
Term 1 foundation: In the artisan’s workshop as school laboratory, learn skill by observing
and imitations during the weekly 2hour demonstrations by the local artisan.
Term 2 Community Laboratory: Apply learned skill at least twice a week at real business
under supervision of a “guest master.”
Term 3 “earn as you learn”: Execute a micro task whereby payment is through mobile
money.
Record keeping in the spiral approach for instance at farms, kiosks, boda-boda riders while
increasing complexity.
Step 5: Selection of Learning Experiences
Taba: Experiences must give practice in behaviour you want. No lectures for hands-on skills.
Examples of Learning Experiences:
[Link] Canva objective: Experience: “Client Brief Day” Real Kiosk owner comes to class,
describes their shop. Learners design 3 posters options in 90 minutes. Owner picks best and
pays UGX 5,000 on spot.
2. For Enterprise Math: Experience: “Failed business Autopsy” Village Savings and Loan
Associations Secretary brings real books of a collapsed chapati stall. Learners work in groups
to find where profit was lost.
3. For Repair Skills: Experience: “Broken Items Drive”-community brings broken
kettles/lamps to school. Learners diagnose under technician supervision. Fixed items returned
to owners at small fee.
Role of Teacher: Facilitator, not lecturer.
Role of community: “Guest Master” day/week, gives real tasks,
Step 6: Organization of Learning Experiences
Weekly Timetable:
Day Activity Venue Taba Principle
Mon-Wed Skills Lab: Input School/Youth Centre Simple to Complex
plus Practice
Thu-Fri Community Salon, Farm, Concrete experience
Placement Workshop
Sat Reflection and School Continuity plus
Portfolio Integration
Progression of Difficulty
Month 1: observe-Watch mentor make poster.
Month 4: Assis- Edit video under mentor instruction.
Month 8: Lead- Negotiate price, do job alone, invoice client.
Step 7: Evaluation
Taba: Evaluation checks if objectives were met and provides data for next diagnosis cycle.
Skill demonstration: Assessed by community mentor using a set of rules and instructions
during a real task for instance “can youth make marketable liquid soap?”, “can youth make
good promo edited videos?’’
Portfolio of evidence including photos, videos, invoices, mobile money messages, client
testimonials among others to prove income and skills earned.
Reflective journals which questions what an individual learns from community which school
didn’t teach them, which are graded by the teachers for critical thinking. Prompt: “Describe 1
time community feedback changed how you do your skill. What did you learn”
Program-Level Evaluation: 6 months after graduation, track:
1.% of youth earning UGX 200,000 a month from curriculum skills.
2. % of employers who hire from 2nd cohort.
CONCLUSION
Using Hilda Taba’s Grassroots Model ensures the Curriculum is not an academic exercise but
a direct response to unemployment pain. Because the community diagnosed the problem, set
objectives, and evaluates outcomes, the youth graduate with skills that are already bought in
their own village. This closes the gap between “school” and “work” and makes curriculum
development a tool for immediate poverty reduction.
REFERENCES
1. Taba, H. (1962). Curriculum Development: Theory and Practice. Harcourt, Brace and
World, New York.
2. Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development. (2024). State of youth
Unemployment in Uganda Report. Kampala.
3. Uganda Bureau of Statistics. (2024). National Labour Force Survey 2023/24
Kampala.
4. Wakiso District Local Government. (2025). District Development Plan III: Skilling
and Employment Chapter. Wakiso.