Janet unhappy with Science grades

The Minister of Education and Sports, Ms Janet Kataha Museveni, yesterday said she was not satisfied with the performance of students in Science subjects in the Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) examinations

During the release of the 2022 UCE results, Ms Museveni said: “… the Ministry notes that this year the overall performance in the Science subjects that are compulsory is not yet satisfactory although there is some improvement.”

She added: “Government is committed to promoting the teaching and learning of Science subjects as you know. The Ministry of Education and Sports will look into this matter and where necessary re-examine our policies to address areas of concern in this regard.”

Ms Museveni further said: “…the Ministry acknowledges the poor performance in Biology, which has been reoccurring through subsequent releases of the UCE results. This matter is currently being addressed through the intervention of curriculum reviews.”

She said the curriculum reviews are meant to, among others, do away with obsolete information, reduce subject content overload and contact hours in the classroom, so as to create time for research, talent development and creativity.

She added that the Ministry hopes that this will help improve learners’ performance.

 This comes months after the government increased the salaries of Science teachers. The monthly salary of a secondary school science teacher is now between Shs700,000 and Shs4.2m, up from between Shs795,000 and Shs858,000. 

According to the new salary structure, a diploma Science teacher in a government-aided institution earns between Shs700,000 and Shs900, 000, while a degree holder earns between Shs1m and Shs1.4m depending on experience.

Ms Museveni assured Arts teachers, who have on several occasions gone on strike over government’s failure to increase their salaries, that the Ministry will not rest until a solution is found.

“Talking about teachers also brings me to the subject of the Arts teachers. I cannot finish what I am saying without mentioning the very important fact that government is looking to the Arts teachers to show their loyalty to God, their government and the children they teach…,” she said.

She added: “Please leave the matter of your remuneration to your mother ministry- the Ministry of Education and Sports. I reiterate today, this is our burden as a ministry. Go ahead and do your best and trust God to do the rest.”

The minister also noted that the cases of absenteeism of students have increased by 0.3 percent; something that she said is of great concern to the ministry.

“This is especially so since these young people are in school for all the four years. They then register for examinations, only to miss out at the end, thus losing out on transitioning to the next level of their education. So, again we must find answers to these questions and we will,” she said. 

The Uganda National Examination Board (Uneb) executive director, Mr Dan Odongo, said a total of 345,695 candidates sat for the UCE examinations out of 349,459 who registered. Of these, 46,667 passed in Division One, 76,745 in Division Two, 88,690 in Division Three and 117,837 passed in Division Four.

A total of 15,756 failed the examinations and are expected to repeat Senior Four.

Mr Odongo said there is an improvement in performance in the large entry subjects except in Christian Religious Education, Biology and Commerce. 

Mathematics showed better performance at the distinction level, but declined overall. English language improved at credit and overall pass levels but declined at the distinction level.

Senior Five students are expected to report to school for the first term on March 6.

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