The last three weeks, parents, P7 candidates and their schools’ heads have not been sleeping well. They were wondering what the PLE results release would bring. But for some, the sleep will continue to be hard to come by.
MOSES TALEMWA looks at what some parents will be looking for as they look to beat the system and have their children score that coveted aggregate four.
If your child is enrolled in a rural school outside Kampala or Wakiso, the institution would better not be far from the urban areas. No school based outside an urban area registered a child with aggregate four, in the PLE exams released on Thursday.
As Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb) executive secretary Dan Odono explained, the schools that produced these pupils are located in an urban setting, “where the pupils receive plenty of moral support from their parents and teachers,” among others.
Others have alluded to the fact that pupils in these schools were likely to find supporting reading materials and more motivated and enlightened teachers than in the rural backwaters.
Just as in the past, most of the children obtaining aggregate four are from Kampala schools at 127 candidates, followed by Wakiso at 92.
However, there is a growing emergence of schools in other parts of the country like Masaka and Rukungiri at 26 candidates each, Mukono (25), Mbarara (21), Mbale (13), Kabale (12), Iganga (6), Sembabule, Kalungu, Ibanda, Bushenyi, Lwengo, Luweero (at five each), Kasese, Mubende (at four each), Ntungamo, Buikwe (three each), Arua, Adjumani, Kamwenge, Kanungu, Jinj, Gulu and Hoima (two each).
Others like Nakasongola, Namutumba, Kumi, Kamuli, Sheema, Lira and Kyankwanzi could only manage one each. Apart from Mbarara Municipal School, which is a government institution, the schools that produce aggregate four are largely privately-started or principally run by teachers. They usually charge tuition fees that are above the average in their localities and have much in common.
Apart from having motivated teachers, they tend to share a lot in the way they impart knowledge to their pupils, often to small classes, emphasis on revision materials and plenty of textbooks for reference. These schools occasionally have twinning opportunities, where their teachers and pupils visit each other and learn from each other.
STEADY PROGRESS
In referring to the results released last week, there is continuing progress in the performance of the schools published. Compared to 2015, many schools in this elite category maintained their presence there, while a few like Nkokonjeru, Leo’s Junior School, Cornerstone Junior School as well as Hormisdallen lost ground.
But the rest continued to improve. Apart from our presentation of schools with aggregate four, we have also prepared a list of school performance across the country, aggregated by the percentage of pupils who passed in division one. The list shows a group of new entrants with 100 per cent performance.
These include Flobbeto nursery and primary school in Hoima, which had attained the feat at its first PLE seating, and Uganda Martyrs Katwe primary school in Lwengo.
mtalemwa@observer.ug