Classify schools and examine students according to abilities

I have been analysing results released by Uneb for five consecutive years. I thank Uneb for the strategies taken to minimise cheating of national exams and improving fairness in the marking. It must have been noted that there has been heavy involvement of security personnel, introduction of random numbers (codes) and conveyor belt system. A lot has been achieved.

However, something significant is being flouted. While presenting his report for PLE results, the Uneb executive secretary said candidates who did not qualify for higher levels should not be called failures, rather they are just ungraded. But this is not enough to carry away the embarrassment from pupils at a tender age.

In the previous years, poor performance by less privileged schools would be blamed on poor command of the English language. However, it has been noted that English language is among the best performed subjects in the recently released PLE results. This proves that something else is hindering students from performing well.

From the UCE results released recently on January 31, only 27,696 candidates out of a total of 330,721 that sat for the exams got first grades. This makes 8.4 per cent. Candidates who failed were 42,334 (12.8 per cent),

In 2017, about 24,000 candidates did not qualify to get certificates. There are districts, for instance, Amudat and Nakapiripirit with no first grade. Other districts like Kalangala, Kwenyi, and Buvuma with only two first grades. Zombo got nine first grades. One would ask, is this big number of failures a clear reflection of the learners’ intellectual ability?
Wakiso, Kampala, and Mukono districts have topped the chart with 5,949, 3,141, and 2,666 first grades respectively. Mbarara, Ntungamo, Sheema, and Rukungiri had 941, 406, 384, and 248 first grades respectively.

You would ask, isn’t it time to introduce regional exams? However, the overall performance does not represent the general performance, rather it is a significant contribution by the best schools in those districts. It may require more time for other people to observe things using my lens, but from the continuous analysis so far made, here is an idea on my desk.

It would be required of the Ministry of Education to inspect schools and classify them into classes (or grades). Schools would be classified (graded) based on the equipment in stock, number of teachers and their qualification, and the time they have been in operation, among others.

This should be revised from time to time and adjustments made. It is upon these observations that Uneb should pick interest and set exams basing on the classifications.

John Kiwanuka,
[email protected]