UNEB registers improved PLE performance despite Covid
UNEB chairperson, Prof Mary Okwakol. PHOTO/ DAVID LUBOWA
What you need to know:
- A total of 74, 875 pupils have failed the exams.
The Uganda national examination board (Uneb) has said it registered improved performance by pupils who sat for the 2020 primary leaving examinations despite the Covid-19 restrictions.
Releasing the exams at State House Entebbe, the board’s executive secretary, Mr DanOdongo said Friday that out of the 734,788 total number of students who sat for exams, 659,910 had passed.
According to him, a total of 81,864 passed in First grade, 334,711 in second, 146,142 in third and 97,193 in fourth.
A total of 74, 875 pupils have failed the exams.
Odongo says that more pupils have succeeded to proceed to the next level so the ministry of education should prepare enough space for them.
“This Division U (Ungraded) is awarded to candidates who have failed to reach the minimum level of performance that can be awarded at least a Division 4. Such candidates are advised to repeat,”
According to him, non-Universal Primary Education (UPE) candidates performed better than
the UPE candidates.
“Most of the non UPE candidates are from schools located in urban areas,” he added.
Studies conducted by UNEB through National Assessment of Progress in Education (NAPE) have consistently shown that learners in schools located in urban areas achieve at higher levels of proficiency that their peers in schools located in rural areas.
“Reasons for this include the fact that teachers in the urban schools tend to spend more time on task, there is a higher level of parental involvement in the learning process, better access to facilities that supplement classroom teaching, etc,” Mr Odongo said.
According to the board chairperson, Prof Mary Okwakol statistics on registration show that the number of registered candidates went up with a larger percentage than ever before. This was contrary to expectation and so the Board undertook a study to find out the reason for this increase.
“One of the findings is that in the districts of Kampala, Wakiso and some urban centres elsewhere, a number of head teachers admitted that they registered Primary Six pupils, mostly girls, to sit the
PLE. The reason given was that parents were worried about girls’ fast growth, and the uncertainties surrounding their going back to school soon,” she said.
