Pre-entry exams: Sieving out unserious students?

What you need to know:

  • Uganda’s education system is marred with malpractices during Uneb exams but do pre-entry exams at universities help to sieve the chaff from the good seed?

Phillious Karibwije, 29, a managing partner at Phleb Associated Advocates, says he was subjected to two different pre-entry exams before fully becoming a practicing lawyer.

The former student of Kigezi High School, says he was subjected to one while joining Law School at Uganda Christian University, Mukono and another at the Law Development Centre (LDC) at the start of his Bar course.
“Our class was the first to sit pre-entry exams at UCU in 2009,” says Karibwije, adding that at the time it was only UCU subjecting secondary leavers to the tests.

But Karibwije says he did not have a problem sitting for the exams given the challenges of Uganda’s education system which is riddled with exam multi-practices at various levels, pre-entries thus help to sieve out unserious students.

He says pre-entry exams should not scare away any student who is determined to undertake a highly prestigious course such as Law.

“They normally ask simple questions which Senior Six leavers should be able to pass and the principles of Law at the LDC pre-entry exam which graduate students have already studied,” Karibwije states.

Because Law is a highly competitive course, Sheila Kasolo, a lawyer with KBA Advocates, says pre-entry exams give an opportunity for Senior Six leavers that apply for it to compete for the few slots available at most law schools in the country. The same, she says, applies for the Bar Course at LDC.

Besides the one at LDC, gives an undergraduate student an opportunity to know what they should expect. “I remember when I was joining the university, the questions were gauging why I was interested in pursuing a Bachelor of Laws. And through a one-on-one interview, the panel is able to judge whether you are ready,” she explains.

Makerere joins in
At Makerere University, pre-entry exams for Senior Six leavers joining the School of Law were introduced in the 2012/2013 academic year.

According to the introduction guidelines, the pre-entry exam was introduced due to a mismatch between Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) A-Level grades and the performance during the Bachelor of Laws programme and legal practice.
“That the UNEB A-Level grades were not the best single predictor of academic success in law and the pre-entry examination would yield a statistical significant improvement in predictability,” reads part of the guidelines. The guidelines also indicate that poor performance was generally attributed to poor comprehension and communication skills and lack of knowledge based on good understanding of legal principals.

Students from poor performing schools were not competing for admission to Bachelor of Laws and as a result the pre-entry exam gave them an opportunity to compete.

Dr Vincent Ssembatya, the director quality assurance at Makerere University, says pre-entry exams are inevitable and relevant to some professional courses.

“Pre-entry exams are inevitable because the number of people who want to join Law School is higher than the number of positions available,” he says.

Dr Ssembatya says before pre-entry exams were introduced, the number of boys getting admitted to Law School had reduced due the 1.5 points that was being added on the UNEB grades of the girls.

“It is not bad to have a high number of girls in a programme but affirmative action calls for equal opportunity to either sex. This made pre-entries inevitable because scholarships and positions could no longer be allocated,” he observes.

And coupled with the challenges that UACE exams face, it becomes inevitable for some universities who aim at having the best qualified students pursue Law to hold pre-entry examinations.

Pre-entry for Medical Students
Meanwhile, health sector players also want a pre-entry exam introduced at Makerere University for students who want to become doctors. Prof Joel Okullo Odom, the chairman to Uganda Medical and Dental Practitioners Council, said recently they want to introduce pre-entry at Medical School to sieve out unserious students. “We have to start a pre-entry exam because not everyone who comes to the medical school wants to be a doctor. Being a doctor comes from the heart and requires a lot of sacrifice,” Prof Okullo said.

Uneb protests Pre-entry exams

In 2016, UNEB questioned the use of pre-entry examinations as a precursor for admission to Law at Makerere and Uganda Christian Universities insisting that the two institutions should revert to Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) results as a basis for admission.

Saverio Pido, Uneb’s head of research unit then, said pre-entry examinations were imposing a double cost to parents.
However, Dr Ssembatya says UNEB is not irrelevant because it has its own objectives.

He says that the National Council for Higher Education gives universities leverage and power to add to the entry requirements beyond the given minimum requirements.
However, Ritah Namisango, the Makerere University spokesperson, says the university has not yet conducted studies to assess the pre-entry exams.

“Since the first cohort graduated in January 2017, it is too early to compare and contrast,” Namisango says.

pre-entry not Uneb’s mandate

“UNEB is a national exam body and is meant to provide proficiency values to students at that level. People sit Uneb exams for various reasons such as those who want to take on political offices or go abroad. We do not want people to think that Uneb is meant to select Makerere University students. It is meant for other reasons.”
Dr Vincent Ssembatya