Decline in 2012 performance

The number of candidates who sat for the exams also reduced compared to 2011, with Education Minister saying the decline is a cause for worry.

Kampala

The Uganda National Examinations Board yesterday released the 2012 Uganda Certificate of Education results, indicating a slight decline in both performance and the number of candidates who registered and sat for the exams compared to 2011.

Overall, performance dropped from 2.4 per cent to 2.2 per cent. Out of the 262,987 candidates who sat for the exams, 18,826 passed in Division One ( 7.2 per cent) as compared to 22,630 ( 8.5 per cent) in 2011.

Uneb says 428,513 candidates are eligible for the examination board’s certificate, meaning they can move on to the next stage of education. This category also qualifies for the government’s free A-Level scheme introduced last year. However, the number of those who qualify for certificate reduced by 25,707 compared to 254,220 who received them in 2011.

A total of 13,363 failed the exams and were graded in Division Nine. Like it was in the Primary Leaving Examinations a few weeks ago, performance of candidates under the government’s free education scheme remained unknown despite Uneb saying 101,300 of them sat for the exams.

Journalists demand to have the figures were ignored by both Ministry of Education and Uneb officials. Uneb Secretary Matthew Bukenya said although the overall performance had dropped, it was not indicating “a significant change”. “Overall performance in 2012 has dropped, compared to that of 2011, although not significantly,” he said.

Girls performed well in English and Literature in English while boys excelled in sciences as it has been over the last three years. However, English was the worst done subject overall, followed by Literature in English, Christian Education, Islamic Religious Education Agriculture and Physics.

Although there was a slight improvement in History, Geography, Mathematics, Chemistry and Biology, more than 50 per cent of the candidates were unable to demonstrate the basic competencies in most science subjects. For instance, only 1.83 per cent scored a distinction in Chemistry, according to the results.

Education Minister Jessica Alupo, who released the exams, said the drop in performance was a cause for worry, adding that a solution must be sought to avoid a repeat this year.
“ Uneb has consistently highlighted areas where schools must pay attention to in the various subject areas,” she said, “the executive secretary’s statement still echoes these problems, meaning that schools are not heeding or using the information to improve the teaching /learning process,” she said.

assenkabirwa@ug.nationmedia.com