Boys beat girls in UCE Exams

The Ministry of Education and Sports has on Thursday released Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) results at the State house in Nakasero.

The 2022 senior four examinations were set under the theme“Integrity and Security in the management of
examinations, the Health and Safety of Learners is a joint responsibility”.

According to Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB), a total of 349,459,candidates from 3,703 centres sat the examinations. Of these Of these, 114,181 (32.7%) were USE beneficiaries, 175,768 (50.3%) males and that of females is 173,691 (49.7%).

UNEB executive director Dan Odongo says 46,667 candidates passed with distinction, 15. 5 percent being male and 11.5 female. 76,745 scored Division with 23.3 percent being boys and 21.0 girls, 88,690 passed with Division 3, 25.5 percent boys and 25.8 percent girls, 117,837 candidates scored in Division 4 with 31.4 boys and 37.0 girls while 15,756 got Division 9 , 4.3 boys and 4.7 boys.

Odongo says the worst performed subjects were Christian Religious Education, Biology, Commerce and an overall decline in Mathematics which showed better performance at the Distinction level.

Odongo says girls only beat boys in English while other subjects including CRE/IRE, History, Geography, Agiculture, math, Arts, physics among others were better performed by boys.

boys beat girls

He however says English Language improved at credit and overall Pass levels but declined at the distinction level while Physics and Chemistry showed improvement although the overall pass levels are still low. Biology has continued to decline as seen in the last few years.

“Female candidates performed better than males in English Language. In Chemistry, the male candidates show better performance in the higher grades but, overall, a higher percentage of females obtained at least a pass. This trend in the disparity in the performance of male and female candidates has been
observed over the years.” says Odongo

A total of 721 Special Needs Education (SNE) candidates (389 males, 332 females) registered for the 2022 UCE examination .These consisted of the blind (39), those with low vision (115), the deaf (87), the dyslexics (88) and physically handicapped (94).

Odongo says of these 77 passed with a distinction, 99 got second grade, 115 passed in division 3 , 224 got division 4 while 53 failed in division 9.

At Luzira prison, the centre registered 51 candidates .Eight passed in Division 2, 16 got Division 3; 26 passed in Division 4 and One failed.

The Board examined Chinese Language for the first time in 2022. A total of 134 candidates sat and 124 (92.5%) of them passed. The language is in addition to other major languages; French, German, Arabic, Latin and Kiswahili already being examined.

Odongo says the board realized that majority of the candidates lacked innovation and originality in composition writing.

“We note that this year, examiners reported better quality work in English Language. However, in composition writing, where candidates are expected to exhibit creativity and originality, learners in some schools are still cramming passages from textbooks or what they call “model compositions” with unusual and difficult vocabulary. They then reproduce the crammed passages irrespective of
what the composition topic is. ” he said

For Science subjects he said “,the problems have remained the same as in recent years. Candidates
showed weaknesses in the handling of apparatus during the practical tests. The weaknesses were also shown in making and recording observations and drawing conclusions from those observations; tabulation of experimental results and interpretation of the results to meet the demands of the question. They also showed poor Mathematical skills required in calculations, “
in the practical papers.

Odongo adds that a total of 1,035 results will be withheld in accordance with Section 5 (2) (b) of the UNEB Act No 1 of 2021 and affected examination centres will be notified through their portals.

He however says t the cases of malpractice for-instance in Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics have been attributed to external assistance, collusion among candidates, impersonation and script substitution as
the common cases.

Compiled by Minah Nalule