PLE: English best-done subject as SST declines

English was the best done subject at last year's Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) according to results released today by the Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb). The exams were sat between November 8 and 9 last year.

While releasing the results at State House Nakasero, Uneb executive director Dan Odong indicated that 114,617 (14.1%) got division one, 357,799 (44.1) obtained division two, 146,583 (18%) passed with credit 3, 95702 (11.8 per cent) got credit 4 while 97,109 candidates (12 per cent) were ungraded.

“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,” said Odong.

English recorded 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.

In subject performance by gender, Uneb indicated that females performed better than 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. 

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 per cent) from 11,306 centres were Universal Primary Education (UPE) beneficiaries while 248,982 (29.9 per cent) of the candidates were non-UPE. The proportion of candidates benefitting from the UPE programme has increased by 1.7 per cent. 

“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,” Odong said.

On the issue of examination malpractice, Uneb said that 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 court under the relevant sections of the UNEB Act, 2021. Over 10 such suspects have been remanded to prison in Mpigi and Masaka while others have been released on bail. 

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, January 30, 2023. No copies of the 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. 

To access the results by SMS on mobile phones, go to messages on the phone menu, type PLE, leave space, type the full index number of the candidate and send to 6600.

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