Exam scores alert us of our widening social inequities

The Uganda National Examination Board, commonly known by its acronym Uneb, is the statutory body that sets and marks national schools’ examinations at Primary, Ordinary, and Advanced levels of education in Uganda. 
The idea of standardised national examinations wouldn’t be bad, and it has not been. The real problem is that Uneb exam outcomes have become one of the most reliable measures of social inequality in Uganda. It is also a profoundly reliable predictor of widening gender inequality.

Children of the rich attend elite schools and pass Uneb exams by any means possible. Children of the poor attend not-so-great schools and fail Uneb exams, with, of course, a few exceptions who may defy the odds to perform well. This pattern of performance in Uneb exams has been the standardised script for decades.
The aforementioned is not the problem of Uneb.
Uneb is only a prism through which we are able to observe and analyze social inequities in our country. There are many other robust prisms to measure the materiality of our social inequities, whether in accumulated wealth, income source, employment opportunities, or the patterns of distribution of cultural, social, political, and economic resources.

Thus, Uneb examination results often remind us that there is a profound endemic societal problem arising from the structuring of our society under this hegemonic social order under the NRM. Three decades ago, when Uneb released its examination results, newspaper headlines blossomed with success stories - individually and groups.  Every newspaper would rush to publish reports of best-performing students and schools from around the country. Then the inequities intensified and for two decades, the best-performing schools and candidates were from elite schools where the rich people send their children, in central and western Uganda.

The best candidates from elite schools filled our front pages and the best performers from remote centers were celebrated as a footnote. Overall, the beaming faces of parents hugging their successful children and celebrating with them often captured the imagination of the nation.
Until the high school fees’ moments come beckoning, of course!
But now things have changed.
These days, newspaper headlines scream with the proportion of those students who failed their Uneb exams in large numbers.

Something else caught my attention. For the first time in nearly thirty years, a newspaper headline now revealed to the nation that boys have performed better than girls.
Another observation of interest is that Ugandan newspapers are reporting on an exceedingly high number of students whose results were held on suspicion of cheating Uneb exams or being involved in examination malpractices. Leaking exams demonstrate how the fear of failing makes candidates and parents equally nervous! A standardised national exam, however, must have integrity.

In Uganda’s case, failing S4 and S6 defines the life course of many citizens. It is worse for those at the lower socioeconomic margins.  In other countries, there are options for adult education and various arrangements for one to redevelop a career after flanking regular schooling.  In Uganda, failing Uneb exams endears one to the bottom of society.  Most progressive societies have abandoned national exams because not all those who fail Uneb are not good. We can agree also that Uneb has excluded some of the most brilliant brains in Uganda from achieving their full potential.
It is also in Uganda where one has to produce their PLE, UCE, and UACE results even for a lowly automobile driver job or managing director of an organisation. Uneb is still very critical and so must its integrity.