Education minister irked as 12,000 candidates snub PLE

Minister of Education and Sports Janet Museveni was yesterday irked over the significant number of Primary Seven candidates who, despite registering, failed to appear for their Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) in 2023.

During the release of the 2023 PLE results at Nakasero State Lodge yesterday, the Executive Director of the Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb), Mr Dan Odongo, observed that 12,323 candidates despite registering, did not turn up for the final PLE 2023 examinations that were held between November 8 and 9, last year.

Uneb registered a total of 749,254 candidates from 15,859 centres for PLE in 2023 compared to 832,654 in 2022.

Despite the number of those who did not show up, reducing from 20,844 in 2022 to 12,323 in 2023, and other subsequent years, Ms Museveni said it is still unfair for a pupil to register for an exam and fail to turn up.

“When a child fails to show up for their end-of-cycle examination, it is a  waste of that life and resources for the entire education system and the families,” she said as she officially released the examination results.

“I reiterate the appeal I made last year to the parents and teachers to ensure that a child who has been registered to sit their end-of-cycle examination does not miss doing so,” she said.

Despite acknowledging the strides made in achieving gender parity in primary education access, Ms Museveni expressed concern about the declining completion rates among boys, prompting a call for reflection on the underlying causes.

“Why is the boy child not completing primary education? We need to prescribe solutions that address the fundamental causes to prevent this negative trend from getting out of control,” she said.

Statistics from Uneb show that 391,558 candidates (52 percent) of the 749,254 who sat for the 2023 PLE were girls while 357,789 (48 percent) were boys. This does not differ from 2022 where 432,554 (51.9 percent) of the total 832,654 candidates who sat that year were girls and 400,100 (48.1 percent) boys.

Mr Odongo also highlighted a consistent trend over the past seven years, indicating a widening gap in the number of girls completing primary education compared to boys.

Ms Museveni was also concerned with the high number of candidates who failed to pass examinations.

“From the Executive Director’s report, I observe that a high number of candidates did not attain the grades, where one would be considered as having passed; therefore, qualify for the PLE certificate,” she said.

Uneb statistics indicate that 88,272 candidates were ungraded, including 38,346 boys and 49,926 girls.

Division U (Ungraded) is awarded to candidates who fail to reach the minimum level of performance for admission to Senior 1.

At least 47,452 (13.26 percent) boys passed in Division One, compared to 39.130 (9.99 percent) girls in the same division. Also, 164,906 boys were in Division Two, while 171,601 girls obtained the same division, 69,870 in Division Three, with the number of girls standing at 86,420 in the same division and 31,415 boys passed in division four, while 37,868 girls got the same.

Solution

The minister said the government through her ministry, “is going to ensure that this trend is reversed right from its root cause”.

She announced government plans to allow learners who performed poorly to repeat Primary Seven in public schools and emphasized the need to review the practice of advancing learners to the next class without demonstrating adequate knowledge and skills.

“It is a disservice to move a learner to the next level when you as a teacher, headteacher, you very well know that the child has not demonstrated minimum mastery of the appropriate knowledge and skills in the previous class,” she said

She said the selection exercise for Senior One will take place between February 1 and 2.