System-Level Constraints on School Administrators’ Capacity to Foster Teacher Commitment in Competency- Based Curriculum Implementation in Secondary Schools: A Narrative Review
Luben Elia Mugarura, Denis Sekiwu, Fredrick Ssempala & Athanansio Bashaija
Kabale University, Uganda
https://orcid.org/0009-0008-9525-0366
Email: lubenelia@gmail.com
Abstract: School administrators play a pivotal role in shaping the conditions under which teachers implement competency-based curricula (CBC), particularly through leadership practices, resource allocation, and institutional support that influence teacher commitment. In Sub-Saharan Africa, CBC reforms have expanded rapidly over the past three decades; however, implementation outcomes remain uneven as school administrators operate within persistently constrained education systems. This narrative review synthesises empirical and policy-oriented literature on the system-level challenges confronting school administrators in strengthening teacher commitment to implementing CBC in secondary schools. The review draws on peer-reviewed studies from Google Scholar, ERIC, and Scopus, alongside grey literature from ministries of education, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development published between 1997 and 2025. The findings identify key system-level constraints, including limited instructional leadership capacity, weak professional development structures, large class sizes, resource and staffing shortages, accountability pressures, and policy–practice misalignment. Collectively, these interacting constraints position school administrators as change agents operating within highly constrained systems, thereby limiting their capacity to foster sustained affective and normative teacher commitment to implementing CBC. The review highlights the need for policy and institutional reforms that strengthen school-level leadership capacity and provide enabling conditions for administrators to support teachers’ engagement with CBC requirements. It concludes that without addressing the system-level constraints on school administrators’ capacity, efforts to strengthen teachers’ commitment and sustain CBC implementation in secondary schools are unlikely to succeed.
