The Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) has released the 2018 Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) results showing significant improvement in critical subjects, particularly English and Physics.
The Chair of UNEB, Prof Mary Okwakol, says while girls performed better in English, the boys outperformed them in all other subjects examined.
Okwakol says UNEB will release detailed reports on areas of the curricula that need to be acted upon.
The Executive Secretary of UNEB, Daniel Odongo, says although 335,435 candidates registered for UCE examinations, 330,721 actually sat the examinations.
Of those who sat the exams, 152,278 were beneficiaries of Universal Secondary Education-USE.
Odongo says there is a steady increase in number of candidates as well as a steady decline in absenteeism.
The Minister of Education Janet Museveni hailed UNEB for the timely release of the results, emphasizing that it enables parents to prepare adequately for the return of the students to schools.
Mrs Museveni also says the reduction in absenteeism is a positive development.
The results were released one week before schedule.
Meanwhile, results of 47 schools have been withheld over examination malpractice. Among the culprit schools are traditional ones like Namasagali College in Kamuli district and St. Edwards Bukuumi in Kakumiro district.