What next for P7 leavers?

On Friday, July 16, many people across the country breathed a collective sigh of relief when the Primary Leaving Examination (PLE) results for 2020 were released. The exams, which in ordinary times should have been sat for in November 2020 and released in January 2021, were instead sat for in March 2021 and the results released in July 2021.

 Every stakeholder, including parents, guardians, pupils, and school administrators, should be heartily congratulated. According to an article that ran in Saturday Monitor, “More pupils get first grade as scores for Math, English drop”, there was an improvement. 11.1 per cent of pupils who sat achieved grade one, compared to 10.7 per cent the previous year. This was indeed a feat that must be applauded.

 The years 2020 and 2021 have been unique in terms of the difficult circumstances they came with. The Primary Seven candidates went for six months without attending school physically, and while some schools were able to conduct online classes, many were unable to. This class also had one half of term one, as well as term two and three condensed; they had to learn all the subjects and revise the content within almost five months.

 Sadly, many schools closed operations because they could not afford to keep open. The performance of those who were able to have the exams no doubt deserves applause.

And in dishing out praise, we should not forget to commend the Uganda National Examinations Board who despite the interruption have done their best to provide the exams, mark and release them, within two lockdown periods.

 The question now is, what next for the leavers? The Minister of Education and Sports, Ms Janet Museveni, in her speech while releasing the results stated that there was no clear date yet, on when schools would reopen. This is pending a decision that will be made by the Cabinet. This means the leavers who have been on holiday since April 1 will still have to sit tight. Also, unlike the past where secondary schools would release their selection cut-off points a day after the results came out, this time, parents and pupils will have to wait longer.

 However, with every dark cloud comes a silver lining. Parents and guardians should use the extra time they have with the children to teach them skills, give them helpful talks, and present them with exciting experiences that will enable them to start the next phase of life better prepared. Covid-19, after all, has taught us that we must make the use of whatever we have, the best way we can.