Abolishing PLE: Do we need exams anyway?

In January this year, when Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) were released, parents and top city schools accused Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb) of under marking their children with some arguing that there is need for an independent audit of the results.

Dr. Roy Mayega, a lecturer at Makerere University School of Public Health, was one of the aggrieved parents and launched a scathing attack at Uneb on social media. He accused the examinations body for under marking top city schools.

He wrote: “For the last three years, Uneb seems to have conjured an unwritten policy to undermark the top schools in Kampala. The patterns with which the one-time titans are crushing shows clearly that this trend is not occurring by chance alone.”

Dr Mayega went on to mention that Kampala Parents, Greenhill Academy, City Parents and Kabojja Primary were a total shadow of their glittering performance. And yet these were schools where parents paid for ‘quality’.

He stated: “These are schools where pupils get every learning object as long as it is targeted for passing the exam- yet they are trailing behind the likes of Kakooge Primary School (in Nakasongola).”

Mayega_ in his diatribe to Uneb continued to say that conspiracy theories had been swirling around that policymakers had a ‘sinister plan to kill the schools’ and that they wanted to demonstrate that UPE schools are better than private schools.

He wrote: “Others are fronting an equity argument as the explanation: That the D1 cut-off point top-end private schools is 90 per cent and above while that for other schools is 75 per cent. The latter explanation seems to be more prevalent among the people I have talked to - however, if it were true, what would be the rationale for the cut-off points and was a proper calibration done before the cut-offs were decided?”
In his observation, Mayega, points out that to beat the system, he had silently resolved to take children to Kampala schools till Primary Six and then register them for Primary Seven in Nakapiripirit for purposes of sitting exams.
Behind Mayega and other private schools’ complaints was a cloak and dagger operation to thwart loss of public confidence as star performers. Usually, private schools have used PLE as stepping stone to win public confidence which also translates into commercial gain.

Why exams?
However, in an opinion to this newspaper, Dr. Dr. Meshach W. K. Rwebiita who once worked with the examinations body defended Uneb saying it was not possible to favour UPE and ‘low calibre schools’ since Uneb uses a random number system that makes it hard for examiners to predict schools.

From Mayega’s submission, there appears to be a public consensus that examinations influence teaching and learning. They become self-reinforcing as they have the potential to keep the teachers and students on their toes. It is this fact that encourages some teachers and learners to work hard.
However, on May 31, the World Bank through its report titled, ‘Economic Development and Human Capital in Uganda,’ stressed that there is need to scrap PLE to provide for a free sail of students from primary to secondary school to realise a high transition of students to lower secondary (Senior One).

“One way to address the issue of low transition could be by abolishing examinations in the final grade of primary – a practice that governments are adopting more widely in the developing and developed world alike. The rationale for such a policy is that most countries now consider primary and lower secondary education as part of the same foundational education level, often called basic or foundational education, which they are making compulsory,” the report reads in part.

“However, this is not a costless policy option as it will require continuous monitoring of education quality by administering formative student assessments throughout the primary cycle. Moreover, uprooting a strong public belief that a final primary exam is necessary would require mindset shifts, which can be achieved through social campaigns and outreach.”
Mourad Ezzine, a World Bank adviser on Global Education Practice, while releasing the report cited loss of Shs300bn in unproductive education as many children drop out in the middle of primary education when they are still illiterate.

The argument put forward by Education minister Janet Museveni, is that those who fail at Primary Seven drop out instead of repeating.
According to latest Uneb statistics, at least 655,000 pupils sat for PLE in the year 2018 with a pass rate of 91 per cent.

Mixed reactions
This an academic level for the education starters and it is crucial for the government to understand that a Ugandan citizen should have at least an academic slip that shows they passed the first educational level. “This will set foundation for a child to prosper to another level such as in tertiary institutions.”

Evelyn Akankwasa, a Primary Seven teacher at Kinoni Integrated Primary School in Mbarara District, argues that it gives satisfaction to a teacher after assessing a child for the last seven years to see them succeed by sitting for national exams.
She says; “When a learner sits for an external exam, they will compare their abilities to others. Secondary schools admit students from Grade 1 to Grade 4, so very few fail. If they cross to lower secondary without doing PLE; most are likely to fail at Senior Four.”
However, Patrick Kaboyo, the National Secretary of Federation of Non-State Education Institutions, says PLE is a wastage of resources.

“There is a lot of money that goes in organising for these exams including invigilators, examiners, managing scouts. That money can be invested elsewhere to help children to transit to secondary school with at least two sets of skills that can enable them join the world of work. These skills should start at the first level of instruction in early child development. We are missing the point by starting at tertiary and university.”
He says children sleep late in the night because of the cut throat competition and Uneb conditions.
“If you scrap PLE, children won’t carry heavy bags. When you remove the issue of children cramming, they will move to understanding and conceptualising skills.”

Kaboyo also argues that those opposing scrapping of exams such as private schools look at PLE at a commercial aspect of education. However, he adds that before praising private schools as better performers, we must assess the value added to children from these schools.

Critical issues to resolve
Before the Education ministry and its sister agencies can endorse World Bank’s proposal, there are a number of critical issues that remain unresolved in Uganda’s education sector especially at primary level mostly in government-aided schools.
The current total enrollment in government-aided primary schools stands at 8.8 million of 2017.

In a recent Education ministry report on UPE titled: “UPE: Transforming Uganda”. It quotes The National Assessment of the Progress in Education (NAPE) report which shows that although there have been efforts to transform education in Uganda; quality of primary education remains the main challenge.

The NAPE report also shows that completion rate remains below the desired target of 100 per cent. At least 1.5m pupils enrolled for primary one in government schools in 2006, but only 29 per cent of them sat PLE seven years later.
The percentage translates to 435,000 pupils out of the 1.5m. This means 71 per cent (about 1,065,000) of them did not sit for final national examinations.

The UPE report also quotes a UN report showing that Africa has the worst secondary school enrollment rates in the world. Girls and poorer young people comprised the bulk of those locked out of school by financial and cultural constraints. Many drop out before reaching Primary Seven.

Way forward
Continuous checks. Kaboyo argues that we should invest in continuous assessment. After Senior Four, many children sit at home without anything to show for their education. “In between, Senior Two and primary, there should be testing of individual skills. And they should be able to tell where they belong, whether, they are artists or scientists depending on their skills. We should challenge students to think critically.”
Vocational training. Modison Wabuna, the head teacher at Bukalasi Primary School in Mbale District, says the World Bank should create opportunities such as vocational institutions for those who do not pass PLE so that they become self-employed.

Quality assessment. The World Bank also suggests that to realise this goal, the government needs to build lower secondary schools in underserved areas and closer to communities to make it easier for students, especially girls, to attend.

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