New schools dethrone traditional giants in UCE

Paul Agora (3rd) of Kisugu SS celebrates with his teachers after scoring Aggregate 19. PHOTO BY ALEX ESAGALA

Kampala-Districts have registered varying performances in the 2015 Uganda Certificate of Education examinations with some posting shock results.
The latest ranking of best schools per district has seen a tight competition between schools, which is likely to change the status quo where traditional schools used to dominate best performance in the exams in their respective districts.
In Jinja, an eastern region district, Holy Cross Lake View Secondary School emerged best in the district with 67.9 per cent pass rate after registering 38 students in Division One out of the 56 who sat the exams.

The traditional academic giants in Busoga College Mwiri emerged eighth in the district after recording a 19.8 per cent overall pass rate out of 131 students who sat the exams, only 26 students passed in Division One.

Western region
In Bushenyi in western Uganda, St Mary’s Vocational Kyamuhunga emerged top in the district after registering a 78.4 per cent overall pass rate. It trounced traditional star performers Kitabi Seminary at 77.2 per cent and Bweranyangi Girls SS at 66.5 per cent.
The Senior Four academic heavy weights with a consistent trend in top performance in Kabale District in southwestern Uganda, Kigezi High School and Kigezi College Butobere, have since been dethroned by St Paul’s Seminary, which registered a 90.6 per cent pass rate to beat all others in the district.

It was closely followed by a shock star performer, St Adrian Seminary in Rubanda County. Kigezi High School and Kigezi College Butobere registered 30.9 per cent and 22.9 overall per cent pass rates, respectively.

In Arua, the major district of West Nile, Ushidi Secondary School was top with a 42.1 per cent pass rate and was closely followed by St Joseph’s College Ombaci, a traditional school.

Muni Girls Secondary School, also famous in West Nile, has significantly declined in performance and registered only 11 students in Division One out of the 123 who sat the exams.

In Gulu, a major district of northern Uganda, Ocer Campion Jesuit College emerged the best with 74.3 per cent pass rate with St Joseph’s College Layibi trailing at 41.5 per cent.
In Lira District, in Lango sub-region, the traditional star performer Dr Obote College Boroboro topped the district with 50.6 per cent pass rate whereas in Karamoja’s main district of Moroto, Nadiket Seminary was top with 14 students passing in Division One out of 18 (77.8 per cent) who sat the exams.

Kisubi Seminary in Wakiso District has reclaimed it position after all its 44 students who sat for the exams passed in Division One, recording a 100 per cent pass rate.
Its main rival, St Mary’s SS Kitende came in the second position with 99.8 per cent, after it registered only one student in Division Two out of total of 431 students. Traditional academic giant Uganda Martyrs Secondary School Namugongo has 96.1 per cent.

Central performance
In Mukono, central Uganda, St Mary’s Namagunga located in Lugazi topped the district after recording 100 per cent pass rate, all its 156 students who sat for the exams last year passed in Division One.

It was closely followed by St Joseph’s SS Naggalama with a 97.1 per cent and Seeta High School at 94.5 per cent pass rate.

There was a shift in the status quo in Kampala where Bishop Cipriano Kihangire SS in Luzira emerged best with 96.2 per cent pass rate.
It was closely followed by St Joseph’s Girls Nsambya with 93.7 per cent and the renown Nabisunsa Girls’ School with 88.0 per cent.

In Mbarara District, Mayhill High School, for girls, topped the district with 84.7 per cent closely followed by Ntare School for boys with 80.2 per cent pass rate.

Explaining the shifts and variations in school performance, the incoming Uneb executive secretary, Mr Daniel Odongo, said the examinations body had stopped ranking schools some years back, but blamed the bad performance of some schools on poor administration and inadequate resources.