Uganda Senior Four Curriculum - Religious Education (CRE or IRE)

This curriculum focuses on developing self-assured individuals, responsible and patriotic citizens, lifelong learners, and positive contributors to society. It emphasizes knowledge, application, and behavioral change, based on a clear set of values. Students can choose between Christian Religious Education (CRE) and Islamic Religious Education (IRE).

CRE Curriculum

The CRE curriculum aims to promote spiritual and moral development, enabling learners to find meaning and purpose in life. It explores beliefs, values, and morality within society. The curriculum builds upon primary school concepts and prepares students for higher-level study. It fosters values like honesty, integrity, tolerance, respect, love, a positive attitude towards work, patience, perseverance, kindness, responsibility, generosity, loyalty, and unity.

Senior One:

• Term 1: Worship: Explores various forms of worship, including prayer, fellowship, fasting, meditation, offertory, reading scripture, and singing. Examines the role of worship in the lives of the apostles and its purpose in contemporary Christian life.
• Term 2: Christian Rituals and Celebrations: Examines the main rituals practiced by Christians, such as baptism, confirmation, marriage, and ordination. Explores the importance of these rituals in expressing commitment and love to God and fellow human beings. Also covers Christian celebrations and their significance.
• Term 3: Values in Christianity, Islam, and African Traditional Religion: Compares and contrasts the foundations, characteristics, and common beliefs across these three religions. Focuses on developing tolerance and understanding for harmonious living in a diverse world.

Senior Two:

• Term 1: Respect for Human Life: Explores Christian teachings on human dignity, respect for life, and sexuality as God's design. Emphasizes the importance of self-respect and valuing one's body.
• Term 2: Marriage: Examines the meaning and purpose of courtship and marriage, the importance of children, and Christian teachings about marriage. Also explores traditional African marriage and its values.
• Term 3: Family: Focuses on the importance of family to society, the roles of different family members, the values of harmony within family relationships, and Christian teachings about family. Also covers current family trends and the influence of modernity on the African family.

Senior Three:

• Term 1: Work: Explores the purpose of work, work ethics, the challenges of work in the modern world, and the rights and responsibilities of employers and employees. Examines Biblical teachings about work.
• Term 2: Wealth and Development: Covers acceptable ways of acquiring wealth, the contribution of Christians to societal development, the dangers of wealth, and the value of generosity. Also explores traditional African views about wealth and development.
• Term 3: Leisure: Examines the types of leisure, the value of leisure in God's creation story, Biblical teachings about leisure, modern trends, and the value of leisure in traditional Africa.

Senior Four:

• Term 1: Peace: Explores Biblical teachings about peace, the role of organizations and personalities that promote peace, and traditional African peace-building mechanisms.
• Term 2: Justice: Covers the concept of justice, the value of a just society, Christian teachings about justice, and the traditional African understanding of justice.
• Term 3: Conflict Resolution: Examines the causes of conflict, the role of Christianity in conflict resolution, Biblical teachings on resolving conflicts, and traditional African approaches to conflict resolution.

IRE Curriculum

The IRE curriculum promotes spiritual and moral development for learners, enabling them to search for meaning, value, and purpose in life. It explores the importance of beliefs and values in personal, family, and societal contexts. The curriculum builds upon primary school concepts and emphasizes experiential learning. It fosters values such as honesty, integrity, tolerance, respect, love, a positive work ethic, patience, perseverance, kindness, responsibility, generosity, loyalty, and unity.

Senior One:

• Term 1: Worship: Explores the concept of worship, its importance, different forms of worship in Islam (e.g., prayer, fasting, pilgrimage), and the meaning of Shahada and Swallah.
• Term 2: Islamic Rituals and Celebrations: Covers Islamic symbols, the Aqiqah ceremony, and the significance of Islamic celebrations like Eid al-Adha.
• Term 3: Islam and Values in Christianity and African Traditional Religion: Compares and contrasts Islam with Christianity and African Traditional Religion, focusing on common beliefs, moral standards, and ways to show respect for other religions.

Senior Two:

• Term 1: Respect for Human Life: Explores Islamic teachings on human dignity, the sanctity of life, and human differences in terms of gender, religion, and race. Covers Islamic teachings about equality and brotherhood.
• Term 2: Marriage: Examines the purpose of marriage, different types of marriage in Uganda, challenges and benefits of marriage, Islamic teachings about marital responsibilities, and traditional African marriage.
• Term 3: Family: Focuses on the roles of family members, Islamic teachings about family, the importance of family as a basic unit of society, the African concept of family, and the influence of modernity on the African family.

Senior Three:

• Term 1: Work: Explores the value and purpose of work, Islamic work ethics, challenges of work in contemporary life, and traditional African views about work.
• Term 2: Wealth and Development: Covers Quranic teachings on wealth, the role of Islam in development, the relationship between wealth and development, challenges of development, and traditional African views about wealth.
• Term 3: Leisure: Examines Islamic teachings about leisure, its importance, types of leisure activities, modern trends, and traditional African understandings of leisure.

Senior Four:

• Term 1: Peace: Explores Islamic teachings on peace, the struggle for peace, and traditional African peace-building mechanisms.
• Term 2: Justice: Covers Islamic teachings about justice, the concept of justice, ways of achieving justice, the value of a just society, and the traditional African understanding of justice.
• Term 3: Conflict Resolution: Examines Quranic teachings about conflict resolution, how Prophet Muhammad resolved conflicts, the nature of conflicts in the modern world, principles of conflict resolution, and traditional African methods of conflict resolution.