Prime
Rural schools still lag behind
L-R: Former pupils of Kampala Parents School, Ethel Edwina Nabukeera, Peace Kalamya who both scored Aggregate 4 and Emily Atim with Aggregate 5, celebrate after receiving their results yesterday. Photo by ABUBAKER LUBOWA
What you need to know:
Education minister notes that many children in the eastern region serve as labour force in sugar plantations.
Kampala
Primary Leaving Examination results released yesterday indicate that candidates in private schools and urban areas performed better than their counterparts.
Out of a total of 582,085 candidates who sat for PLE, more than 78 per cent were from Universal Primary Education, while private schools accounted for 21.5 per cent.
Overall, 2013 registered a slight decline in academic performance from the previous year with the pass rate falling from 88.4 per cent to 88.1 per cent.
The number of candidates who passed in Division One fell to 9.4 per cent from 10.9 per cent in 2012.
Schools in Fort Portal municipality were ranked the best performers with no failure followed by Ntungamo municipality. Kabarole emerged best among the districts registering 0.9 per cent failure rate.
Eastern region posted poor results. Kween District topped the list with 34.6 per cent followed by Bulambuli with 30.3 per cent.
The Education minister, Ms Jessica Alupo, blamed the poor performance on sugar plantations and fishing around Busoga region which lure children out of school into employment. However, districts, including Bududa, Bulambuli and Kween are mountainous and do not have sugar plantations.
On top
Urban areas that performed better include Gulu, Jinja, Rukungiri, Masaka, Kabale Mbarara, Entebbe and Ntugamo municipalities. Ms Alupo attributed the large discrepancy in rural-urban performance to the increased absenteeism of both teachers and pupils in rural schools and lack of facilities. Speaking at the event, the Uneb chairperson, Mr Fagil Mandy, congratulated the candidates who excelled and urged those who failed not to give up.
Worst and best performers
Districts Failure rate
Kween 34.6%
Bulambuli 30.3%
Bukwo 29.6%
Kaliro 28.1%
Luuka 27.3%
Iganga 26.7%
Buyende 25.2%
Bugiri 24.5%
Bududa 24.6%
Namutumba 24.6%
Municipalities Failure rate
Fort Portal 0.0%
Ntungamo 0.0%
Mbarara 0.7%
Kabarole 0.9%
Entebbe 1.2%
Kabale 1.1%
Masaka 1.2%
Jinja 1.3%
Rukungiri 1.4%
Gulu 1.8%
