Beyond The Classroom: Project-Based Learning and English Language Competence in Uganda's Secondary Schools

English occupies a central position in Uganda’s education system as the official language of instruction from upper primary onwards and as a compulsory subject at secondary level, yet national assessments repeatedly show that many learners progress through the system without securing functional competence in the language. This review examines the potential of project-based learning (PBL) — an inquiry-driven, learner-centred pedagogy in which students construct knowledge through sustained, authentic tasks — to strengthen English language competence in Uganda’s secondary schools. Drawing on the theoretical lineage of PBL from Dewey and Kilpatrick to social constructivism, and synthesising empirical evidence from English as a Foreign Language (EFL) settings across Africa, Asia and Latin America, the paper argues that PBL offers a coherent means of developing the four language skills, learner autonomy and motivation while simultaneously advancing the generic competencies at the heart of Uganda’s 2020 competence-based lower secondary curriculum. The review also confronts the structural constraints — large classes, resource scarcity, examination pressure, uneven teacher preparation and socio-economic disparity — that condition whether PBL can move from policy aspiration to classroom reality. It concludes with practical recommendations for teacher development, assessment design and phased implementation, and identifies the near-absence of Uganda-specific PBL research as a priority gap for future inquiry.