- 95% candidates have passed exams.
- English subject was the best performed.
- some schools reported to have no science teachers.
Image: UNEB
The 2023 Uganda certificate of education examination results have been released today by the minister in charge of education, Janet Kataha Museveni, at Nakasero state house.
The results show that the pass rate has gone up. Out of 349459 candidates who sat exams, over 329900 candidates have progressed to post-UCE.
64,782 candidates have scored division one, 85,566 scored division two, 83,545 in division three, 112,923 in division four, 14,879 have failed.
The results further showed that the failure rate has also dropped by 0.5 percent. This means that 329,939 (95.9%) of the learners who presented themselves for the 2023 examination can progress to the post-UCE level.
The overall performance, Male candidates outperformed females, however Female candidates performed better than males in English Language.
In the other subjects, males perform better, with the differences being very significant in History, Geography, the Sciences and Commerce. In Chemistry, however, the male candidates show better performance in the higher grades but, overall, a slightly higher percentage of females obtained at least a Pass.
The results also showed that there was a significant improvement in English language, religious education, mathematics, and Biology.
The noticeable drops were recorded in History, Agriculture, and Physics. And performance in other subjects remained comparable.
In terms of division or passes, 20.1% of male candidates scored division one as compared to 15.8% female, in division 2 the number of males was 24.5% compared to 22.9% female.
The executive director of UNEB, Daniel Odongo has noted that there are some schools that have been reported to have no science teachers which exacerbated the problem on the side of science subjects.
‘’Performance in the sciences continues to be a cause for concern, with less than 20 per cent of the candidates obtaining Credit pass levels in Physics and Chemistry, and 40 per cent or more unable to pass. It is worth noting, however, the upturn in performance in Biology, which has been recording a steady decline’’. He stated.
He noted that the examiners have attributed the low achievement levels in science subjects to a number of factors, main among which are inadequate teaching, manifesting in the inability of the learners to master the basic scientific concepts; lack of practical teaching, manifesting in the learners’ inability to manipulate science apparatus and carry out the procedures prescribed in the examination papers and interpret any readings or observations that could have been made.
‘’There are schools that have been reported to have no science teachers, which exacerbate the problem. Most of the examination malpractice cases at this level are in the practical papers’’. He noted.
UNEB maintains an examination center at Luzira Prisons for the inmates; to assist the Uganda Prison Service in their efforts at rehabilitation of offenders.
The center registered 59 candidates (51 males and 8 females) and 58 of them sat. One candidate, a female, was absent from the examination. Of those who sat, 6 (all males) passed in Division 1; 14 (all males) passed in Division 2; 24 (21 males, 3 females) obtained Division 3; 13 (10 males, 3 females) passed in Division 4 and 1 (female) failed.
364,469 in 2023 the candidates sat from 3,808 examination centers. Of these candidates, 118,633 (32.5%) were Universal Secondary Education beneficiaries.
The number of male candidates registered was 180,471 (49.5%) and that of females was 183,998 (50.5%). There were 3,527 more females than males who registered for the examination.
In 2023 361,695 candidates (179,032 males and 182,663 females) appeared for the examination compared to 345,695 candidates who appeared for the examination in 2022. This is an increase of 16,000 (4.6%) candidates.
A total of 809 Special Needs Education (SNE) candidates (368 males and 441 females) registered for the 2023 UCE examination compared to 721 in 2022. These consisted of the blind (35), those with low vision (183), the deaf (71), and the dyslexics (90) and physically handicapped (79).
SNE candidates have performed quite well, especially those with low vision. However, as had been observed at the Primary Leaving Examination level, the Deaf candidates appear more disadvantaged by their disability. Of these, 57.7% obtained Division 4 and 25.4% failed.
Heads of UCE examination Centers can download the results from their portals as soon as they are released. No hard copies are available but Examination centres that may be interested will be notified as soon as they are ready for collection from UNEB offices, Ntinda. Candidates, their parents and any other persons wishing to access results may do so through their mobile phones. Go to the ‘Message’ menu and type UCE, leave space, then type the correct index number of the candidate; e.g. U0000/001. Send to 6600 on the MTN and AIRTEL networks.