Only 20 districts in the central and western regions had students
with maximum score in the just released Uganda Advanced Certificate of
Education (UACE) results.
Saturday Monitor analysed the 2019 UACE
results released by Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb) on
Thursday and established that half of the candidates with 20 points in
their A-Level subject combinations were from the central region
dominated by Wakiso District with 21 students, and Mukono District with
11.
Western region had eight districts with the maximum points, while
the eastern had two districts of Iganga and Jinja each contributing two
students.
Uneb recorded examination centres from 121 districts.
Dr
Goretti Nakabugo, Uwezo’s country director, yesterday said similar
imbalances have been identified in the basic assessment they do. She
warned that unless poverty and other social economic factors are
addressed at foundation level, the imbalance in education standards will
continue.
She said, for example, those who are able to go through
the system successfully are the ones who will enjoy government
scholarships at universities and later control the economy.
“It
is the reality. That is the pattern that we also see in the basic
assessment that we do at Uwezo. That kind of imbalance is like a cycle.
Once you don’t address the imbalance at the foundation, it goes up to
the level we are talking about. If you look at the poverty rates, they
are higher in north and eastern Uganda where you can see absences. These
things could correlate because of the poor education system in those
places,” Dr Nakabugo said.
Teachers under their umbrella Uganda
National Teachers’ Union (Unatu) have called upon government to analyse
the data further to find a lasting solution instead of apportioning
blame.
Mr Zadock Tumuhimbise, the Unatu chairperson, yesterday
explained that there is unequal resource distribution across the
country, and added that teachers need other stakeholders to support them
train the learners.
“Do teachers from Wakiso or central region
train from special institutions? We go to similar universities. Should
we say those children from other regions are cursed? Should we believe
that the brains of those children are not working like those in places
where they have performed well?” Mr Tumuhimbise wondered.
He added:
“There is a problem, which we must understand and we shall not
understand it if we continue shifting blame. The government should take
keen interest. We are going to have different layers of humanity in the
country. We need to understand that there are imbalances in
affordability among parents. Which districts in central have performed
better? When you look at those districts, how do you compare the status
of parents or residents to those in districts that have not performed
well? There are variations in terms of where the children go, the
facilities and the resources available in school.”
Mr Dan Odongo,
the Uneb executive secretary, said while presenting the results that
good performance was exhibited by candidates from traditional government
schools and some private schools, who demonstrated adequate knowledge
of the subject matter and were able to handle tasks that required high
order skills.
In a separate interview, Ministry of Education
permanent Secretary Alex Kakooza said they will continue to do
inspection to ensure they enforce minimum standards in schools.
“We
know private schools have challenges. But even a few government schools
are affected. But we are emphasising that as we build more schools, we
should ensure they have science laboratories and teachers,” Mr Kakooza
said.
UACE results Advertisement
Performance. A total of 103,429 sat last
year’s Senior Six exams. Of these, Uneb officials said 98.6per cent
qualified for UACE certificate, with 86.2per cent qualified to enroll
for a university course.
A total of 159 students scored 20 points, the maximum points for anyone to get at this level.
King’s
College Budo topped the list with 18 students candidates scoring 20
points, followed by Uganda Martrys SS, Namugongo with 17 students. Mengo
SS and St Andrea Kahwa’s College, Hoima, each had nine students, St
Mary’s SS, Kitende (7), while Buddo and Gombe SS each had five students
with 20 points. Majority of the schools had one student with 20 points.
