Girls post better results than boys

Kampala.

The Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) results released yesterday indicate that girls outshone boys in performance after a very long period of trailing.

The overall performance of candidates shows a very high percentage of candidates-97.3 per cent-passed.
A total of 46,651 girls sat for the exams up from 43,764 students who sat in 2012, an increase by 2,887 students (40.2 per cent).

Fewer female candidates (1.2 per cent) were also absent from the exams.
The aggregate number of candidates who sat for the exams is 114,380.

More girls eligible for University
A total of 14,248 girls (30.9 per cent) scored three principal passes; 12,311 scored two principal passes, and 10,581 scored one principal pass.
One to enrol at any university requires at least two principal passes, meaning that 26,559 girls are eligible.

Girls with one principal pass and two subsidiary passes can enroll in other tertiary institutions.
Females performed better at principal and subsidiary pass levels, compared to males.

A total of 8,944 (20.4 per cent) girls failed with one principal pass compared to 16,424 boys (24.2 per cent). A total of 67,729 boys sat the exams.

In terms of percentages, female candidates also performed better than males in History (73.7 per cent), Economics (46.7 per cent), and Islamic Religious Education (67.3 per cent)

Other subjects where females beat boys include Christian Religious Education (62 per cent), Geography (49.1 per cent), Literature in English (44.9 per cent) and Mathematics (54.5 per cent). Girls, however, did not excel in science subjects.

“In terms of percentages, female candidates performed better than their male counterparts with a lower rate than for the males,” Mr Mathew Bukenya, the Uneb executive secretary, said.

Performance by subject
Nonetheless, Mr Bukenya added, improvement in performance at principal passes was registered in Economics, Islamic Religious Education, Physics, Agriculture and Chemistry.

“Drop in performance is seen in History, Entrepreneurship Skills, Literature and Biology,” he said.
Uneb also disclosed that there was good quality work from many centres, especially the traditional government-aided schools and well established private schools.

“At other centres, poor preparation was all too evident.”
A detailed report on the work of candidates will be sent out to schools to indicate where improvements have been noted and areas of weaknesses.
Education minister Jessica Alupo said: “The challenge that remains is to increase the actual number of girls at this level.”