By East African Gazette
Kampala
It was joy and celebration at Hillside Junior School Kisugu Kampala suburb after all the 26 candidates who sat for 2023 Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) passed in Division one
According to the Director of Studies (DOS) Stephen Mwesige said Last year (2023) a total of 26 candidates who sat for PLE all of them excelled, alluding their success to the team work of their teachers and the parental support from their parents who gave all the support needed.
Vanessa Naludwa 13, who scored 10 aggregates said despite a second grade in mocks examinations this did not stop her from excelling in division 1 in the final exams.
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Nalundwa said she was affected by Covid while she was in Primary five, this year she would have been going in senior two. She attributed her success to the teachers who were approachable in case she needed guidance. She attributed to their success due to team work with the teachers and students.
Keith Mutenyo who scored 8 aggregates said he was surprised on receiving his scores which he said was a surprise to him. Mutenyo said he failed to answer some of the mathematical numbers because he failed to interpret what was being asked in the examinations.
“My teachers, parents and God contributed immensely to my success. At all times they would encourage me to read my books and I took their advice. If I hadn’t taken their advice, I would not be part of the people celebrating the victory” Mutenyo said.
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He said he lost his father in 2020 who was an engineer while he was in primary five. During the vacation he would travel with his father in the countryside and he liked his work. He revealed that when he grows up he would like to be an Engineer as well as a politician.
According to the Director of Studies (DOS) Stephen Mwesige thanked his pupils for the hard work, they have ignited the candle of their school with all of them passing in division one, applauding parents for supporting children with the school requirement and paying for their school fees in time.
Mwesige urged the parents not to look for other schools to take their children, he added that this being a community school they accommodate day scholars beside the boarding section. He alluded that they mentor pupils with co- curricular activities so that in case they fail in academics they have a skill to make them survive.
According to Uganda National Examination Board (UNEB), a total of 749,254 candidates from 15,859 centers (schools) registered for PLE in 2023.There was a 10% decline in PLE candidates compared to 2022.
However, this reduction aligns with the typical annual number of PLE candidates, due to the fact that in 2020 there were no national examinations due to COVID19.
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Among the registered candidates, 69 are inmates from Upper Prison School, Luzira. Female candidates constituted 52%, while male candidates made up 48%. 79% totaling 501,619 candidates from Universal Primary Education (UPE) schools while 21% were non-UPE centers with 247,728 candidates and 2,580 were candidates with Special Needs.
While releasing the results on Thursday the Minister of Education and Sports, Janet Museveni said the issues of examination malpractice should be dealt with.
“The act of assisting learners to cheat in examinations erodes the confidence and credibility of the entire education system and the integrity of the country at large,” Museveni said.
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Museveni appealed to the security agencies, and Judiciary to help us bring to book those persons proven to be complicit in any form of examination malpractice.
When learners who cheat go through “unmasked”, it communicates “a bad image to the peers”.
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