Govt worried by decline in science performance

Kampala. The government yesterday said they are worried about the poor performance in science subjects in secondary schools.
Prof Mary Okwakol, the Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb) chairperson, noted while releasing the 2018 Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) results that fewer people opt for science disciplines at A-Level and hardly pass them to continue with science related programmes in institutions of higher learning.
“This is a persistent trend that needs to be addressed,” Prof Okwakol said.
The Uneb executive secretary, Mr Dan Odongo, said only 30.4 per cent of the candidates, who sat UACE opted for Mathematics, showing a slight increase in candidature in the subject while the numbers reduced in Physics from 13.8per cent in 2017 to 10.5per cent last year, Chemistry registered 15.4per cent and Biology 13.3per cent.
“Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology are compulsory subjects at UCE level. The number of students who opt for the combinations at UACE with these subjects is very low. The performance in Biology is worrying because it has been declining in the last three years,” Mr Odongo said.
In the past releases, Uneb reported inadequate syllabus coverage, candidates showed misunderstanding of questions, failure to handle questions that required explanations and interpretations.
Mr Odongo said, there is a problem developing in the Biology practical examination where candidates do not carry out the dissection of the specimen provided but are able to provide drawings crammed from textbooks.
“There is evidence of teaching theoretically with little practical experience given to the candidates. Candidates showed inability to follow instructions and procedures, failure to record data accurately. This is evidence that teachers in these schools do not expose the candidates to this skill of dissection,” Mr Odongo said.