The Uganda National Examinations Board-UNEB shows that a total of 695,804 candidates from 13,475 centres (schools) registered for PLE in 2019. Of this number, 473,893 (68.2 per cent) were Universal Primary Education (UPE) beneficiaries, and 221,912 (31.8 per cent) of the candidates were Non-UPE.
The UNEB Secretary General Dan Odongo said at least 7.6 per cent of the pupils managed either a distinction 1 or 2 in English while 14 per cent managed the same in SST. For Mathematics and Science, while the general performance improved, fewer learners managed a distinction at that level.
Odongo said that “Overall pass level rose in Science although performance at the distinction level dropped sharply.”
Just like last year, Odongo noted that in both English and Mathematics performance was poor in questions where candidates were required to apply knowledge in problem-solving situations or express themselves freely. Candidates were more comfortable with questions that are direct and based on recall.
“This situation has persisted over the years,” he said. This is an indicator that most schools are drilling their pupils to cram than understand for them to be able to answer questions that require more thinking.
More candidates, than 2018, will be going to the next level of education, thanks to improvement in performance. Some 617,150 candidates passed the PLE compared to 599,593 the previous year.
On the overall, the candidates got basics like handwriting. Also, candidates also organized and presented their work more clearly even when the answers are wrong.
Also, as an indicator of general improvement, there were fewer candidates scoring zero compared to previous years.