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Joy as 700,000 make cut for S1
Joel Enungo Kateghe of Bunga Primary School in Kampala is congratulated by his head teacher, Mr Daniel Oboth Owuya (2nd right) and other teachers after he scored Aggregate 5. PHOTO/MICHAEL KAKUMIRIZI
What you need to know:
- More candidates passed in Division One and Two compared to those who sat for the exams in 2020.
More pupils who sat for the 2022 Primary Leaving Examination (PLE), have qualified to join Senior One after posting better results compared to those who wrote their exams in 2020. There was no PLE exams in 2021 due to the school closures occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to the results that were released yesterday at Nakasero State House, 714,702 candidates passed and are eligible to join post-primary institutions compared to 659,910 who qualified in 2020.
Silver Spoon School shines
Mr Daniel Odongo, the executive director of Uganda National Examination Board (Uneb), said 811,819 of the 832,654 candidates who registered for 2022 PLE wrote their exams last year.
More candidates passed in Division One and Two compared to those who sat for the exams in 2020. The candidates who passed in the First Division were 114,617 compared to 81,864 candidates who obtained the same last year.
Trevor Ariho and his father celebrate at the Daily Monitor offices in Namuwongo yesterday. Ariho was at Kampala Standard Primary School, Kyanja where he scored Aggregate 6. He wants to become an engineer. PHOTO/SHABIBAH NAKIRIGYA
Elsewhere, 357,799 candidates passed in Division Two in the 2022 examinations compared to 334,711 the last time.
Candidates who passed in Division Three were 146,583 compared to 97,193 last year. Those who ended up in the Fourth division column were 95,702 compared to 97,193 the previous year.
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Statistics, however, show that 12 percent or 97,109 of the candidates failed and are expected to repeat Primary Seven. This is more than the 74,878 (10.2 percent) who were ungraded in the previous year.
Mr Odongo confirmed that students who have passed in Division One to Four qualify to join Senior One and will be allowed to sit for Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) in 2026.
“Such candidates will qualify to register for any post-primary examinations conducted by Uneb. Grade U is awarded to candidates who have failed to reach the minimum level of performance that can be awarded at least a Division 4,” Mr Odongo further noted.
Uneb attributed the better performance to good handwriting and organised work that was presented by the learners. It also revealed that many questions posed were based on real-life situations that resonated with candidates.
Samson Kakiika (circled) of Bugisu Junior School in Mbale City is awarded a goat after he scored Aggregate 10. PHOTO/PHOEBE MASONGOLE.
Top performers
Among the schools that posted good performances are Kyanja-based Kampala Standard Primary School, which had a 100 percent passing rate.
Grand Salai Nursery and Junior Schools, and Bright Valley Junior School also had all their candidates passing in Division One.
Others are Hillside Primary schools with 632 pupils passing in First Grade; Kampala Parents School with 291 candidates out of 410 obtaining Division One; Mbuya Parents with 162 candidates in First Grade; Matuwa Junior Schools with 11 out of 17 attaining First Grade and Kabale Preparatory with 50 out of 51 in Division One.
Absenteeism increases
Uneb, however, registered an increase in the number of absentees after 20,844 candidates failed to turn up for the 2022 exams. In 2020, around 12,819 candidates were a no-show.
First Lady Janet Museveni, also the Education minister, expressed her displeasure at the increment in the number of candidates who missed the examinations.
She said an inquest into the increase in absenteeism is of the essence.
The First Lady stressed that such a development does a great disservice to the nation, families and children who waste their time.
“For these young people to miss out on sitting their examinations and the opportunity to move to the next level of their education is very unfortunate, painful and cumulatively a loss to all,” she noted.
Ms Museveni was also not pleased about the low rate of completion at primary schools level. The rate stands at a dismal 32 percent.
Teachers, parents and pupils of Gombe Junior School in Wakiso District celebrate after all their PLE candidates passed in First Grade. Their best candidate was Stephanie Adyero Ocaya who scored Agg 4.Photo/ David Lubowa
Performance by gender
Male pupils who wrote their 2022 PLE performed better than their female counterparts. Uneb’s dataset shows that 400,100 of the 811,863 were male. This means that 432,554 girls wrote their 2022 PLE.
Uneb revealed that whereas female candidates performed better than their male counterparts in the English subject, boys fared better in social studies and religious education, integrated science, as well as mathematics.
For the last six years, more girls have been completing the primary education cycle compared to their male counterparts.
Boys, however, continually perform better than the girls.
Private schools prevail
More candidates who sat for PLE were from Universal Primary Schools. According to the figures, 566,515 candidates sat for exams in UPE schools compared to 245,295, who sat for exams in private schools.
However, according to performance, non-UPE candidates performed better than their UPE counterparts. Mr Odongo attributed the disparity in performance to the fact that teachers in private schools tend to spend more time on tasks. He also revealed that learners in private entities spend more time at school.
“The teachers tend to adopt teaching methods that emphasise preparation of candidates for test taking, as well as the high involvement of, especially urban parents in their children’s learning process,” Mr Odongo said.
