The Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) has reported a decline in the first-grade passes in the 2024 Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) despite an overall improvement in the pass rate of 91.5%.
At the release of the results at State Lodge Nakasero on Thursday afternoon, UNEB Executive Director, Daniel Odongo announced that 84,301 candidates (10.7% of the total candidates) earned Division One in 2024, a slight decrease from 86,582 candidates (11.7%) in 2023.
397,589 candidates passed in Division Two, accounting for just over half of the total candidates who sat the examination, 165,284 candidates achieved Division Three, while 75,556 were placed in Division Four.
However, a concerning 64,251 number of candidates failed the examination meaning they were ungraded.
A total number of 797,444 candidates sat for the PLE exams last year from 14,883 centres.
“Overall, at Pass Eight level and above, candidates performed better in Social Studies & Religious Studies, Integrated Science, and Mathematics. There was an overall drop in performance in English compared to the year 2023,” Odongo said.
Odongo further explained that Distinction-level scores had decreased across all subjects, indicating that many candidates struggled with questions requiring higher-order thinking and problem-solving skills.
UNEB conducted final examinations for inmates from two centres at Luzira Upper Prison and Mbarara Prison.
71 candidates were registered at Luzira prisons but only 59 appeared for the exams and according to the scores; 4 got Division One, 36 Division Two, 13 Division Three and 6 got Division Four and none failed.
While 37 candidates sat from Mbarara prison; 4 of them got Division One, 20 Division Two, 10 Division Three and 3 passed in Division Four and none failed.
On the issue of examination malpractice, Odongo noted many of the cases exhibited teachers assisting candidates within the examination rooms but surprisingly some schools unscrupulously registering candidates as special needs learners which is against the law.
By Francis Jjunju
24 Jan 2025
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