The 2023 Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) results were on Thursday afternoon unveiled, indicating a decline in overall subject performance compared to the previous year.
The announcement was made by UNEB Executive Director Dan Odongo during the results release event at State House Nakasero on January 25, 2024.
Odongo reported that a higher proportion of the 2023 candidates passed in Division 3 and above, particularly in Science and Mathematics.
“A higher proportion of the 2023 candidates passed in Division 3 and above level. Overall, the performance of candidates is comparable to that of 2022.” he revealed
However, he expressed concern over the significant number of candidates (88,269 or 10.4%) receiving a Division U (Ungraded) designation, emphasizing the need to address potential causes to prevent them from contributing to school dropout statistics.
“Division U is quite high, at 88,269 (10.4%) and should raise concern so that they do not just add to the statistics of school drop-outs. There are districts such as Kibuku (31.5o), Madi Okollo (31.5%), Dokolo (28.9%), Kween (28.4%), Namisindwa (28.9%) where the percentages are well above the national average. Many other districts have over 20% of the candidates in Division U. It is necessary to find out the causes and address them.” he said
He said 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 and are therefore not eligible for admission to the Senior 1 class.
In terms of gender performance, the results showed that proportionally, males outperformed females. Boys had higher percentages in Division One and Division Two compared to their female counterparts. However, girls performed better than boys in English, with a pass rate of 90.64%.
Odongo further noted that results will be accessible through examination center portals, and hard copies can be collected by education officials from UNEB offices starting January 29, 2024. The SMS service on mobile networks will provide instant result updates for parents, candidates, and other stakeholders.
He however stated that school and district authorities will be required to go to the UNEB headquarters starting Monday to collect results for school.
“Results will be uploaded on the examination centre Portals. Each school can therefore download their results as soon as they are officially released. However, the District, Municipal and City Inspectors of Schools may collect hard copies of the results from UNEB offices at Ntinda from Monday, 29th January. 2024. No copies of results are available as of now. Parents, candidates and other interested parties may use the Short Messaging Service (SMS) on mobile networks, which will post results of candid” he explained
The total number of candidates registered for PLE in 2023 was 749,254, marking a decrease from the previous year, which saw 832,654 candidates. Among them, 501,602 (66.9%) were Universal Primary Education (UPE) beneficiaries, while 247,652 (33.1%) were non-UPE candidates.
Notably, Uganda Prison registered 69 candidates, with 60 candidates taking the exam. Results showed variations in performance across subjects.
Meanwhile, the education minister, Janet Museveni, announced that selection for Senior One learners is scheduled for February 1 and 2, with new secondary school students expected to report on February 19, 2024, for the opening term.
Comments are closed.