How S5 selection will be done under new grading

Mr Daniel Odongo, the executive director of the Uganda National Examination Board (Uneb), who released the 2024 Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) exams results at the Nakasero State Lodge in Kampala, on Tuesday, said 350,146 (98 percent) of 357,120 candidates who sat the exams, passed.

But Mr Odongo also revealed major changes in the reporting and certification of a learner's level of achievement in each subject. He said unlike in the past, where candidates were graded using the traditional distinctions, Uneb has introduced a new ranking of a learner’s achievement level in each subject with letter grades A to E.

Mr Odongo said “A” means exceptional performance, followed by “B” for outstanding, “C” for satisfactory, and “D” for basic performance, with “E” as the lowest grade and representing elementary achievement.

These letter grades, he said, were arrived at through systematic and technical processes (statistical and psychometric), which combine the learner’s score based on Continuous Assessment done
at school and accounted for 20 percent, with end-of-cycle examination score accounting for the remaining 80 percent.

Ms Museveni directs

The Education Minister, Ms Janet Museveni, who officiated over the event, set the selection dates for February 20 and 21, and the first term reporting date for the Senior Five class of 2025 on March 3.
Ms Museveni tasked the selection committee to ensure the 2024 cohort of candidates who sat for UCE exams and qualified for post-UCE placements are not left out during the selection exercise.

But there seems no clarity in the criteria of selection so far, with the head teachers saying they are yet to receive guidelines from the Education ministry.
Ahead of the exercise, the head teacher of Kololo Secondary School in Kampala, Mr Edward Kanonya, said scores A, B, and C are good enough for a subject combination, while C is weak and the student is likely to face a lot of difficulties.

“A and B are for a core Science combination, while C is for an Arts combination,”Mr Kanonya said yesterday.
The deputy head teacher of Lubiri Secondary School, also in Kampala, Mr Apollo Mandu Lukaye, said there are no official guidelines yet,and they are waiting to hear from the Ministry of Education.

“As you know, everyone is trying to make sense of the new phenomenon,” he said.
Ms Deborah Basekanakyo, the president of the Association of Secondary School Headteachers of Uganda (ASSHU),said Uneb always guides on the selections.

“All learners who passed, and it is the majority, will be considered during the placement exercise,” Ms Basekanakyo, who is also the head teacher of Wanyange Girls’ Secondary School in Jinja City, said.

The head teacher of Jinja College, Mr Moses Dhikusooka, said when selecting a Senior Five student for a three-subject combination, they will only consider scores A and B.
“The candidate must have scored an A and a minimum of B; we don’t take C and below,” Mr Dhikusooka said.
Mr Dhikusooka dismissed fears of any challenges during this year’s selection exercise.
“This is very, very easy; actually, the easiest, so there is no cause for worry,” he said.

Mr Dhikusooka said previously, under the old curriculum, for a student to offer, for instance, Economics at A-Level at Jinja College, he or she must have scored a Credit in Mathematics; but under the new curriculum, an A, B or C in Mathematics will suffice.“The subjects and subject combinations are clear,” he said.

‘Selection is wrong policy’

But Mr Swaibu Kitezala, the chairperson of directors of all private schools in Busoga Sub-region, described the selection exercise as “a wrong policy” under the competence-based curriculum.

“Under the competence-based curriculum, all those who scored A, B, C, and D all qualify for A-Level; therefore, all schools should take on students, regardless.
“When you select, who do you leave the unselected lot for? Where will the rest of the students go; to some other schools?
At the end, you will say you performed better than those who were never selected; will you call yourself a good performer?” Mr Kitezala asked.

He added: “Under the new competence-based curriculum, carrying out selections means you are going back to the old curriculum. It means you are selecting based on grades, not competencies yet it is a competence-based curriculum.

“When you select those who performed well, you are interested in knowledge, not competencies in some areas without knowing that even the best has weaknesses and the worst has strengths. Let schools take students as long as they qualify,” he added.

The head teacher of Tororo Girls’ School, Ms Beatrice Akware, said she was waiting for guidelines on the mode of selection.
She said she would follow the procedure that will be adopted by the commissioners at the Ministry of Education and communicated to the head teachers.

Mr David Mangeni Sidialo, the head teacher of Majansi High School, also in Tororo District, said whereas there was need for guidance on the selection procedure, he was looking at admitting students who scored at least between ‘A’ and ‘C’ for the subject combination.

But he said he was “happy” with the new assessment adopted under the new curriculum, which he said is fair, broadbased and looks at both the academic and non-academic capabilities of learners.

He said:“I had students who performed better in projects because of the skills they exhibited, but scored moderately in the academic assessments.”

Mr Samuel Barasa, the head teacher of Lunyo Hill Secondary School in Busia District, said he hopes the selection would follow the A, B, C format, so that students who cannot meet these scores can join polytechnics and other institutions of learning.

Ms Margaret Akiteng, a teacher in Kamuli District,said she was not sure whether the selection would be based on a two or three-subject combination, and how effective it would be.

Mr Filbert Baguma, the secretary general of Uganda National Teachers’ Union (Unatu),said they don’t envisage much of a challenge during the selection exercise because“the grading was standard”.
“Whoever has an “A”, whether, in Kampala or rural area, an “A” is an “A”; so, the selection will be dependent on the schools to take students with AAA or AAB, but it will differ from school to
school depending on the capacity of the schools,” Mr Baguma said.

Background

In 2020, the Ministry of Education rolled out the Competency-based Curriculum for the Lower Secondary School level, which presented a requirement for assessment reforms that introduced new components of Continuous Assessment (CA) and Project Work.
Since then, Uneb has embarked on various activities in preparation to assess the first cohort of learners following a roadmap that had been developed.

These included, among others, developing assessment tools, guidelines, training materials, capacity building for teachers as item writers and scorers, benchmarking to pick best practices, and sensitisation of key education stakeholders.
A total of 359,417 candidates were registered as the first cohort for the examination, including 177,133 males (49.3 percent),and 182,284 females (50.7 percent).

UNEB EXPLANATION

Speaking on the sidelines of the release of UCE results, Uneb Executive Director Daniel Odongo said the Ministry of Education usually requests them to do the placements depending on the guidelines they give.

“If you look at the current Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) grading, it also goes from A to E and O, and we also carry out selection using those grades; so the template, if I may say, with some modification that we used for placement for UACE, will be used for the selection into Senior Five,” Mr Odongo said.

He added: “Obviously, it will take into account those with A and B, and so on. For the transition selection, we have the template that we have been using before this examination, and that is what will be applied to the transition exam because their scores or results are still the same with what we had in 2023 and before.”

Mr Odongo said those who didn’t make it for Senior Five Selection, this was a one-off exam. He said as the minister (of Education) guided, they should look at other available pathways in the system as there will be no other examination under the old curriculum.

Stay updated by following our WhatsApp channel https://bit.ly/4aYJlp3