Spectrum XLabs Alliance home: Turning discomfort into value
About

The Problem

Learners in Kyangwali can recall what they are taught, but school has not yet shown them how to use it.

1. The problem

Learners leave school able to recall, not yet able to use what they know

Uganda's competency-based curriculum (CBC) asks for project work and school-based assessment. Yet learners still leave able to recall rather than apply what they know, and the challenges they live with every day rarely reach the classroom.

Part 1 of our theory of changeThe need: problem, people and reason

Four missing supports

Four supports are missing. Without them, the discomfort a learner feels at home stays a burden instead of becoming a question worth investigating.

Four missing supports: an illustrative learner whose family plot grows too little food. No one asks about it in class, there is no project method, there are no tools or resources, and exams test other problems.Select to enlarge
The four missing supports, shown through an illustrative learner whose family plot grows too little food. Illustrative; not a real learner.

The four changes that answer these gaps

  1. No one asks about it

    Learners see real challenges, such as a family plot that grows too little food, but no one invites them into the classroom.

  2. No project method (skills)

    Project work is required, but learners are given no method for noticing a problem, finding out and testing ideas.

  3. No tools or resources (tools)

    Learners have little access to tools, and no framework for choosing and checking them, including AI.

  4. Exams on other problems (mindset)

    80% of the final result comes from the end-of-cycle examination and 20% from school-based assessment (Parliament of Uganda, 20 February 2025), which rewards recall over verifying, testing and improving.

2. The gap

Current state and desired state

What is happening in school now, set against what should be happening for learners to use what they know.

AreaWhat is happening nowWhat should be happening
Real challengesLearners see real challenges, such as a family plot that grows too little food, but these rarely reach the classroom.Real challenges are brought into the classroom and become questions worth investigating.
SkillsProject work is required, but learners are given no method for noticing a problem, finding out and testing ideas.A project method: analytical thinking and problem-solving through projects.
ToolsMore than 1 in 3 schools surveyed have no internet access, and there is on average one digital device for every 63 students. Learners have no framework for choosing and checking tools, including AI.Devices, connectivity and a way to choose and check tools, including AI.
Mindset and assessment80% of the final result comes from the end-of-cycle examination and 20% from school-based assessment, which rewards recall.Assessment that rewards verifying, testing and improving, and builds creative thinking, curiosity and resilience.
ResultLearners leave able to recall rather than apply what they know, prepared for exams.Learners leave able to use what they know, prepared for the work and problems of 2030.

What national data shows

A nationwide assessment of 3,276 secondary schools by UNICEF, the Association of Secondary Schools Headteachers of Uganda and the Ministry of Education and Sports, with Mastercard Foundation (November 2025 to early 2026), found that:

More than 1 in 3schools surveyed have no internet accessUNICEF Uganda, "Uganda's digital education gap", 19 March 2026. Read Original Research
About 12%of schools have internet across the whole campusUNICEF Uganda, 19 March 2026. Read Original Research
1 : 63on average, one digital device for every 63 studentsUNICEF Uganda, 19 March 2026. Read Original Research

Across the wider region, UNICEF Eastern and Southern Africa states: "Across the region, less than one-third of young people have basic digital skills."

UNICEF Eastern and Southern Africa, Education. Read Original Research

Prepared for exams, not for 2030

Employers surveyed for the Future of Jobs Report 2025 expect 39% of workers' core skills to change by 2030, a global projection. Analytical thinking leads; AI and big data, cybersecurity and technological literacy grow fastest, and creative thinking and curiosity are rising.

World Economic Forum, January 2025; more than 1,000 employers, 55 economies. Read Original Research

  • 39%of workers' core skills expected to change by 2030World Economic Forum, Future of Jobs Report 2025

What 2030 needs, and what the curriculum misses

Skills

What 2030 needs (WEF)

Analytical thinking and problem-solving through projects.

What the curriculum misses

A project method.

Tools

What 2030 needs (WEF)

AI and big data, and technological literacy.

What the curriculum misses

Devices, connectivity and a framework for choosing and checking tools.

Mindset

What 2030 needs (WEF)

Creative thinking, curiosity, resilience.

What the curriculum misses

Assessment that rewards testing and improving.

3. Context

Who, where and when

This challenge is sharpest in underserved communities such as Kyangwali Refugee Settlement in Uganda, where Spectrum Secondary School serves refugee and host-community learners. Teachers need practical ways to connect the curriculum to what learners experience every day, and schools need the resources, technology and support that make hands-on learning possible.

Who: secondary learners, S1 to S4, refugee and Ugandan, girls especially

Secondary learners, S1 to S4, from Kyangwali Refugee Settlement and its host communities: young people with real ability, studying together on a curriculum that has not yet reached it.

Girls lose out most: they are 44% of S1 learners at Spectrum Secondary School, but 13% (4 of 31) in S4.

Source: Spectrum records, Term One 2026.

  • 44%of S1 learners are girlsSpectrum records, Term One 2026
  • 13%of S4 learners are girls (4 of 31)Spectrum records, Term One 2026
Where and when

Kyangwali, western Uganda, and the years to 2030

Kyangwali Refugee Settlement is in Kikuube District. Uganda includes refugees in national services, so refugee and host-community learners share schools.

  • 156,248residents of KyangwaliUNHCR and OPM proGres population dashboard, 28 February 2026
  • 31,625young people aged 15 to 24UNHCR and OPM, 30 September 2026

Why the timing matters

A learner who starts S1 in 2027 reaches S4 in 2030, the year by which employers expect 39% of core skills to have changed (World Economic Forum projection).

  1. 2027S1
  2. 2028S2
  3. 2029S3
  4. 2030S4, and the 2030 skills horizon
Work and livelihoods

Work and livelihoods: few jobs for many young people

Why it matters: far more young people look for work than there are jobs, and most working people in Uganda work for themselves. JEP builds problem-solving and initiative for whatever path a learner takes. It does not assume every learner will become an entrepreneur, and entrepreneurship is no guarantee of employment.

42.6%of young people aged 15 to 24 are not in employment, education or trainingCensus 2024, reported by Daily Monitor, 1 May 2025. Read Original Research
12.3%national unemploymentCensus 2024, reported by Daily Monitor, 1 May 2025. Read Original Research
48.2%of young people aged 18 to 30 in Bunyoro sub-region (which includes Kikuube, Hoima and Hoima City) are not in employment, education or training: 301,207 young peopleUBOS, Census 2024 (brochure, 19 September 2025). Measured. Read Original Research
50.9%of young people aged 18 to 30 in Uganda are not in employment, education or trainingUBOS, Census 2024 (brochure, 19 September 2025). Measured. Read Original Research
16.7%youth unemployment rate, ages 15 to 24. Among unemployed young people aged 18 to 30, 48.8% had been looking for work or trying to start a business for more than a yearUBOS, Census 2024 (brochure, 19 September 2025). Measured. Read Original Research
600,000 to 700,000young people enter Uganda's labour market each yearWorld Bank, press release, 4 June 2026. Estimate. Read Original Research
47.1%of employed people in Uganda were independent workers without employees; 34.2% were employees. Outside agriculture, 88% of employment was informalUBOS, Labour Force Survey 2021 (published November 2022). Measured. Read Original Research
10 to 12 millionyoung Africans enter the workforce each year, while about 3 million formal jobs are createdAfrican Development Bank, 25 May 2016. Estimate at the time. Read Original Research

The age groups differ between sources: the Census figures use 15 to 24 (the United Nations definition) and 18 to 30 (Uganda's National Youth Council Act). The NEET figure of 42.6% above is for ages 15 to 24; 50.9% is for ages 18 to 30.

4. Why it matters

What happens if the problem is left unsolved

A learner who starts Senior One (S1) in 2027 will reach Senior Four (S4) in 2030, the year by which the World Economic Forum projects that 39% of workers’ core skills will have changed or become outdated. Without regular practice in independent inquiry, critical thinking, problem-solving, digital skills and the purposeful use of technology, learners risk leaving school less prepared to adapt to change and to turn discomfort into value for themselves and their communities.

In the short term, while learners are in school

  • The discomfort a learner feels at home stays a burden instead of becoming a question worth investigating.
  • Many girls leave before S4: girls are 44% of S1 learners at Spectrum Secondary School, but 13% (4 of 31) in S4.
  • Learners keep studying for exams that reward recall over verifying, testing and improving.

In the longer term, after school

  • Learners finish school prepared for exams, not for the work and problems of 2030.
  • They enter a labour market with few jobs for many young people. See the figures on work and livelihoods
  • Talent in the settlement and its host communities goes unreached.

Without change, learners in Kyangwali finish school prepared for exams, not for the work and problems of 2030, and talent in the settlement and its host communities goes unreached.

Why the supports are missing

Our analysis

This is SXLA's own analysis of why the gap persists, drawn from our work in Kyangwali.

Recall-weighted assessment

Curriculum and assessment are still weighted towards recall and written exams.

Projects without a method

Project work is expected, but there is no shared method for doing it well.

Technology without the means

Technology is taught as a subject without the devices, power or connectivity to use it.

Teachers without support

Teachers have had little training or equipment to teach through real projects.

Poverty and distance

Poverty and distance keep learners out, and many girls leave before S4.

5. Objectives and scope

How SXLA responds

JEP answers each missing support: real challenges brought into the classroom, a project method, a way to choose and check tools, and assessment that rewards testing and improving. The Hybrid Edge JEP Studio is specified to work offline first, so learning need not wait for a connection.

Our approach

What we do, and what we do not

What SXLA does

  • Works inside the national curriculum. It does not replace it.
  • Works with secondary learners, S1 to S4.
  • Starts at Spectrum Secondary School, then partner schools.

What SXLA does not do

  • Provide primary education.
  • Replace teachers.
  • Run general relief.
  • Claim to fix connectivity nationally.

Sources

Kyangwali population figures: UNHCR and OPM proGres population dashboard (28 February 2026) and UNHCR and OPM (30 September 2026). Spectrum figures: Spectrum records, Term One 2026.

Keep exploring

Explore more

JEP Studio

Why SXLA created JEP, and how learners move from a real challenge to knowledge, action and feedback.

Find out more

Studio specification

The Hybrid Edge JEP Studio: what it includes, and how it works with or without the internet.

Find out more

Help learners use what they know

Help equip the Studio and finish the school, or talk to us about the problem and the evidence.

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