First Lady and Minister of Education and Sports Janet Museveni has directed that all schools should maintain the fees charged from last term, as government prepares to come out with a positioin before term starts next week. Janet Museveni said this while releasing the the long-awaited 2022 Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE).
In the PLE results released by the Uganda National Examination Board (UNEB), more children qualified to join post primary schools; boys performed better than girls; there was an improvement in English and Maths.
According to the results summary, more candidates obtained Division 1 and Division 2 than in 2020. The overall pass levels are comparable between the two years.
In terms of numbers, 714,702 candidates passed the PLE compared to 659,910 the previous year. Overall, therefore, more pupils qualify to join the post-primary institutions than the previous year.
STATEMENT
Honourable Minister, we are pleased to present to you the Results of the 2022 Primary Leaving Examination (PLE) which was conducted smoothly on 8 th and 9 th November 2022; under the theme: Integrity and Security in the Management of Examinations, the Health and Safety of the Learners is a joint Responsibility.
REGISTRATION OF 2022 PLE CANDIDATES A total of 832,654 candidates from 14,691 centres (schools) registered for PLE in 2022 compared to 749,761 in 2020. Of this number, 583,768 (70.1%) from 11,306 centres were Universal Primary Education (UPE) beneficiaries, and 248,982 (29.9%) of the candidates were Non UPE. The proportion of candidates benefitting from the Universal Education programme has increased by 1.7 percent.
Table 1 below gives details of candidature and centres for the last five years. Table 1: PLE Registration Figures for the last five years Year UPE Non UPE Total No. of Centres 2022 583,672 248,982 832,654 14,691 2020 513,085 236,677 749,761 14,300 2019 473,893 221,912 695,804 13,475 2018 476,130 195,796 671,923 13,072 2017 466,235 179,955 646,190 12,751 2 2022 PLE STATEMENT OF RESULTS The above table indicates that candidature increased by 82,893 (11.1%) over the previous year.
This is higher than the 7.75% recorded in the previous examination in 2020. The average rate of increase before 2020 has been about 2.5% to 3% annually. In 2022, analysis by gender shows that 400,100 (48.1%) boys were registered compared to 432,554 (51.9%) girls, indicating that more girls than boys completed the Primary Education cycle.
This has been the trend in the last six years. The Board registered 2,436 learners with Special Needs of various categories, including the blind, the deaf, the physically handicapped and the dyslexics, compared to 1,599 in 2020. This is an increase of 52.3%, the largest rate of increase ever. Of these, 1,153 (47.3%) are females and 1,283 (52.7%) are males. A total of 1,609 of the candidates needed specialized assistance such as provision of braille, sign language interpreters, transcribers and physical support (amanuensis).
The provision of this specialized support presents a big constraint on the Board’s budget. Table 2 below gives the details of candidates who registered for the examination, those who sat and the absentees for the last five years.
The performance of candidates in the four subjects is compared over the two-year period of 2022 and 2020 in Table 3 below. The performance is indicated at Distinction 2, Credit 6 and Pass 8 levels. Table 3: Candidates’ overall Performance by Subject The Table indicates that in English there was a significant improvement in performance at the distinction and credit levels while the overall pass level remained the same. In Social Studies with Religious Education (SST), performance declined at all levels, while Integrated Science recorded an overall improvement. Mathematics had better performance at the Distinction and Credit pass levels.
The Table indicates the females performed better than the males in English, but the reverse is true for the other three subjects; Social Studies & Religious Education, Integrated Science, and Mathematics. This is the trend that has been observed over the years. Candidates’ performance has generally improved as can be seen at the percentages scoring distinction and credit grades. Examiners again reported good handwriting and organized work presented by candidates.
The number of candidates scoring zero in various subjects has generally decreased compared to previous years. In Mathematics, even those who scored zero showed mathematical language compared to work presented in the past years. Examiners attributed the better quality performance to the fact that a lot of the questions were based on real life situations to which candidates could easily relate. 5.0 OVERALL PERFORMANCE BY DIVISION Table 5 below shows the overall performance of candidates by Divisional grades in 2022 compared to the performance of 2020.
The 2020 figures do not include cancelled results; and incomplete results (where a candidate is absent for one paper but present for the other) 5 2022 PLE STATEMENT
Table shows that in 2022, more candidates obtained Division 1 and Division 2 than in 2020. The overall pass levels are comparable between the two years. In terms of numbers, 714,702 candidates passed the PLE compared to 659,910 the previous year. Overall, therefore, more pupils qualify to join the post-primary institutions than the previous year. A candidate is deemed to have passed if he/she obtains Divisional grades of 1, 2, 3 or 4. Such candidates will qualify to register for any post primary examination conducted by UNEB. Division U (Ungraded) is awarded to candidates who have failed to reach the minimum level of performance that can be awarded at least a Division 4. Such candidates should not be admitted to Senior One, but should repeat as they will not be eligible to register for the Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) examination later.
A total of 17,253 (2.96%) UPE candidates were absent, while 3,687 (1.48%) non UPE candidates were also absent. From the Table, it can be seen that Non UPE candidates have, proportionally, performed better than the UPE candidates. 6 2022 PLE STATEMENT OF RESULTS Reasons for this disparity in performance, as indicated in earlier Studies by UNEB, could include the fact that teachers in the urban schools tend to spend more time on task, and the learners spend more time in school.
The teachers also tend to adopt teaching methods that emphasize preparation of candidates for test taking. There is a higher level of involvement by the urban parents in their children’s learning process, and urban areas generally have better access to facilities that supplement classroom teaching.
OVERALL PERFORMANCE BY GENDER Overall Performance by gender is shown in Table 6 below: Table 7: Overall Performance by Gender GENDER DIV.1 DIV.2 DIV.3 DIV. 4 DIV. U MALE 60,070 172,827 68,272 43,794 45,309 15.4% 44.3% 17.5% 10.9% 11.1% FEMALE 54,547 184,972 78,311 51,908 51,800 12.9% 43.9% 18.6% 12.3% 12.3% The Table shows that proportionally males performed better than the females and recorded a lower failure rate.
PERFORMANCE OF SPECIAL CANDIDATE GROUPS
Inmates UNEB maintains an examination centre at Uganda Government Upper Prison School, Luzira. A total of 68 candidates were registered (as compared to the 58 registered in 2020). Of the 68 candidates who registered, 63 candidates sat, 5 passed in Division 1, 34 obtained Division 2, 9 obtained Division 3, 7 obtained Division 4, and only 1 was ungraded; while 5 did not sit for the examination. 7 2022 PLE STATEMENT OF RESULTS 8.2 Special Needs candidates
Table 8 below shows the performance of Special Needs candidates by category and by Division. Table 8: Performance of Special Needs candidates by Divisional Grades CATEGORY DIV. 1 DIV. 2 DIV. 3 DIV. 4 DIV. U TOTAL PHYSICALLY HANDICAPPED 3 40 14 6 5 68 BLIND 4 21 6 9 1 41 PARTIALLY BLIND 80 209 71 59 42 461 DEAF 0 50 41 56 116 263 DYSLEXICS AND THOSE NEEDING TRANSCRIBERS 56 384 124 65 17 646 NEEDING EXTRA TIME ONLY 66 290 128 132 162 778
The Table shows that there were more Special Needs candidates who were partially blind, dyslexic, needed transcribers, and those who needed extra time. Of the Special Needs candidates who registered, 55 were absent.
EXAMINATION MALPRACTICE
Scouts and Examiners reported a number of cases of suspected external assistance rendered to candidates by third parties inside the examination rooms and smuggling of information relevant to the examination by some of the candidates.
Security also arrested some distributors and teachers who cut open question paper envelopes in order to access question papers in the districts of Mukono, Gomba, Mpigi and the greater Masaka areas. A number of these have been arrested and charged in Courts of Law under the relevant sections of the UNEB Act, 2022 PLE STATEMENT OF RESULTS Over 10 such suspects have been remanded to Prison in Mpigi and Masaka. Others have been released on bail. In accordance with Section .
5(2)(b) of the UNEB Act, 2021 the Board will withhold the results of the affected candidates pending completion of investigations. All candidates whose results have been withheld will be accorded a fair hearing by the Board’s Examinations Security Committee. After the hearings are concluded the Board will publish, in the media, the list of schools and districts from which results will have been cancelled. 10.0 REPORT ON WORK OF CANDIDATES The Board gives feed back to its stakeholders.
A Report on the Work of Candidates is therefore compiled using observations of Examiners. Advice to teachers is given. All stakeholders, particularly teachers, are urged to utilize this Report. 11.0 A WORD OF GRATITUDE I would like to join the Board Chairperson in thanking you, Hon Minister for the support we received from you that ensured that we obtained the necessary funds to run the examination.
I thank the Ministry of Finance, Planning & Economic Development for releasing the funds within reasonable time to enable examination activities run as scheduled. I would like to thank the Chairperson and Board members for good governance and for their guidance. I thank the District leaders, the Chief Administrative Officers, District and Urban Education Officials, monitors, scouts and invigilators for their participation and support during the management of
2022 PLE. 9 2022 PLE STATEMENT OF RESULTS Honourable Minister, I wish, in a special way, to appreciate the Staff of UNEB Secretariat, who over the last two examination seasons, have risen to the occasion to serve their country with dedication in the face of COVID-19 and then the recent Ebola risks. We dedicated each activity and each day in prayer for God’s guidance and protection.
I am happy to report that no staff of the Board or the contracted professionals who participated in the various examination activities were affected. Special thanks go to the Inspector General of Police, the Chief of the Defense Forces and other Security agencies for availing their personnel to support UNEB in ensuring the security of 2022 PLE in the field and at marking centres.
Honourable Minister, the UPDF airlifted examination papers from Moroto to the districts in the Karamoja region where insecurity had made it risky to move by road. I am extremely grateful to Brigadier General Balikuddembe, the UPDF Division Commander based in Moroto for the very smooth arrangements that also ensured that the examination materials were delivered safely by road to the other parts of Karamoja. I would like to thank the media for the role they played and continue to play in giving prominence to examination activities and exposing malpractice.
I wish to congratulate all the candidates who have passed the examination, the teachers who prepared them and the parents/guardians for their support. Finally, I wish to thank the institutions that allowed UNEB to use their premises and facilities to mark the PLE Examination despite the fact that the exercise affected their school holiday and Christmas period.
APPEAL
I wish to appeal to the Chief Administrative Officers, to ensure that Invigilators and other people who participate in the field management of the examination are paid promptly. Up to now, Hon Minister, some invigilators from a few districts have not yet been paid.
2022 PLE STATEMENT OF RESULTS 13.0 COLLECTION OF RESULTS Results will be uploaded on the examination centre Portals. Each school can therefore download their results as soon as they are officially released. However, the District, Municipal and City Inspectors of Schools may collect hard copies of the results from UNEB offices at Ntinda from Monday, 30th January, 2023. No copies of results are available as of now. Parents, candidates and other interested parties may use the Short Message Services (SMS) on mobile networks which will post results of candidates on their mobile sets instantly.
