Education and Sports Minister Janet Museveni and officials from Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb) have released 2024 UCE results for the Competence Based Curriculum (CBC) — known sometimes as the New Lower Secondary Curriculum (NLSC). In the following report, The Pearl Times looks at UCE 2024 performance.
Total Candidature
A total of 359,417 candidates were registered as the first cohort for the examination. Of these 177,133 (49.3%) were males, while 182,284 (50.7%) were females. 136,785 (38.1%) were beneficiaries of the USE programme and 222,632 (61.9%) were Non-USE. A total of 357,120 (99.4%) candidates were present for the examination. Only 2,297 (0.6%) were absent. The rate of absenteeism continues to drop and this is a good sign.
Special Needs Candidates
A total of 743 Special Needs Education (SNE) candidates (354 males and 389 females) registered for the 2024 UCE examination. These consisted of the blind (31), those with low vision (138), the deaf (71), the dyslexics (100) and the physically handicapped (70).
There were 333 others with other forms of disability that only needed to be given extra time. Only 5 (0.7%) candidates were absent.
Prison Inmates
The Board also registered 28 candidates from Uganda Government Upper Prison, Luzira (27 males and 1 female), and 11 from Mbarara Main Prison (all male).
General UCE 2024 Performance
The format of reporting performance under the competency based curriculum differs significantly from the old curriculum. Performance is reported by achievement levels indicated by letter grades A, B, C, D and E. Given the complete departure from the old grading system reporting of Grade/Division 1, 2, etc.; no comparison can be made between results of 2023 and 2024.
Under the competency-based assessment, there is no ranking of candidates into Divisions as in the previous curriculum. A candidate will qualify for the UCE Certificate if he/she obtains a competency level grade of D in at least one subject sat for.
The overall results show that 350,146 (98.05%) of the candidates who sat qualified for the UCE certificate.
Exceptional levels of achievements are noted especially in Art and Design, History & Political Education, Agriculture and Mathematics. Proportions of candidates achieving at the elementary level (below basic level) are most significant in Physics followed by Chemistry and then English Language.
The reports from our Scorers (examiners) indicate that in the Science practical assessments, candidates were expected to use a given scenario and materials provided to develop aims and a hypothesis, plan and carry out investigations and draw conclusions.
The main problem observed is the failure of candidates to interpret the scenarios, or connect the scenarios and the materials supplied to real life situations, or interpret the results of the experiments carried out and create meaning connected to everyday situations.
Candidates that appear not to have been guided properly tried to use recall to respond to the scenarios.
In English and other foreign languages, the challenges observed have been inadequate vocabulary; inability to paraphrase (use own words without copying directly from a given text) in summary writing; use of inappropriate examples in comprehension texts or literature analysis.
In those languages where speaking was part of the assessment, candidates demonstrated a fair understanding of the given scenarios and responded fairly.
The challenge that cuts across all areas is the difficulty candidates showed in linking scenarios to problem solving in real life situations.
This competency is at the core of the curriculum and implies that teachers need to do much more to guide the learners towards this focus.
Achievement levels of male and female candidates
The Table below compares achievement levels of male and female candidates in large entry subjects expressed in terms of cumulative percentages at the indicated levels. Female candidates demonstrated higher achievement levels in English Language, Christian Religious Education, and Art and Design.
In the other subjects; History and Political Education, Geography, Mathematics, Agriculture, Chemistry and Biology, the proportions of females in the exceptional and outstanding levels are lower than that of males.
Special Needs Groups Prison Inmates
At the Uganda Government Upper Prison School, Luzira, 28 candidates were registered. Of the 28 candidates who registered, 27 candidates sat; while one did not sit for the examination.
All the candidates qualified for the UCE certificate. At Mbarara Main Prison Inmates’ Secondary School, 11 candidates were registered and they all sat for the examination. All of them also qualified for the UCE certificate.
Special Needs Candidates
Up to 703 (95.3%) SNE candidates qualified for UCE certificates, while 35 (4.7%) candidates did not qualify. “Worth noting is that all the candidates in the Deaf category qualified for the UCE certificate. This is unlike in the past when they appeared to be very disadvantaged,” noted Uneb Executive Director Dan Odongo.
“We believe that with CA being part of the final achievement grade, the competencies the Blind can demonstrate at the school level are assessed and recognized, unlike under the Old curriculum.”
Examination Malpractice
There has been a very welcome reduction in cases of malpractice. There are 64 cases with a total of 984 candidates suspected, compared to nearly 3,000 suspected last year.
The nature of the items in the papers do not lend themselves to malpractice. However, the cases reported are mostly in the science practical papers, with Physics being most affected.
Of the cases, 883 (93.1%) are in the Sciences, and only 65 (6.9%) in the rest of the other subjects.
“In these Science cases, there is overwhelming evidence that the candidates were given experimental results by teachers merely to copy. The work done by the candidates do not relate to results recorded,” said Odongo.
You can see top best performing schools, according to UCE results for previous sittings Here, There and Over There.
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