Namayingo, Bududa, Pakwach top UACE failures

Kampala. Three districts have posted the highest number of candidates who failed the 2018 Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education examinations.
Statistics from Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb) presented yesterday, indicate that 28.3per cent of the candidates who sat in Namayingo District failed. Bududa had 10.1 per cent failures while Pakwach had 10.2 per cent.
Overall, Uneb’s executive secretary Dan Odongo said 1,489 students failed last year’s examinations out of 98,524 who sat the papers.
“As of now, Uneb can’t tell why failure rates are high in these districts. We have only acted as a mirror to show what the situation is. These districts have been featuring at all levels in Primary and Senior Four with poor grades,” Mr Odongo said.
Mr Emmanuel Jor Ongiertho, the MP for Jonam County in Pakwach, yesterday told Daily Monitor that most of the parents are not able to invest in private schools where there is good teaching and the few who can afford, take their children to study in Kampala.

Demotivated
He added that majority of the students admitted to study from Pakwach are academically weak and teachers get little financial support which demotivates them.
“It pains me but doesn’t surprise me,” Mr Ongiertho said.
Namayingo District Woman MP Hope Robina Mukisa blamed the poor performance in her district on lack of facilities and few teachers, where some are unable to access hard-to-reach areas such as the island.
Mr Odongo said Uneb questions test the candidates’ ability to comprehend and apply knowledge in novel situations, logical reasoning skills, experiments and interpret results.
He recognised good performance in traditional government-aided schools and some private ones.
Districts such as Buliisa, Butambala, Butebo, Dokolo, Kaabong, Kalungu, Kibaale, Kotido, Moroto, Nakapiripirit, Napak, Pader and Rukiga did not register any failure.