The Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) has raised concerns about some schools registering normal pupils as support needs candidates to gain undue advantages during the Primary Leaving Examinations-PLE 2024.
Dan Odongo, the UNEB Executive Director, revealed that a few schools are hiding under the “Others” category, which includes pupils with health conditions such as asthma, epilepsy, and sickle cell anaemia. “These candidates may experience health challenges during the examination period, but they do not require any specialized assistance except for the extra 45 minutes allowed to them,” Odongo explained.
While these provisions are intended to support students with genuine needs, UNEB noted that some schools exploit the system by falsely labeling perfectly normal pupils as special needs candidates.
Despite these concerns, the 2024 PLE results showed positive trends in overall performance. According to UNEB, a total of 797,444 candidates from 14,883 schools registered for the exams, an increase from 749,347 candidates in 2023. Of these, 524,025 (65.7%) were Universal Primary Education (UPE) beneficiaries, while 273,419 (34.3%) attended Non-UPE schools.
However, the results also indicated a drop in the number of candidates obtaining Division 1. “There is a drop in the number of candidates obtaining Division 1. However, a higher proportion of the 2024 candidates passed in Division 2 and above levels. Overall, 91.8% of candidates passed, compared to 88.0% in 2023,” Odongo said.
The 2024 data also highlighted gender trends, with more girls (418,750) than boys (378,709) completing the Primary Education cycle.
Special Needs Education (SNE) candidates, particularly the deaf, showed significant improvement this year. Prof. Celestino Obua, UNEB Chairperson, remarked, “In 2023, 44% of this category were ungraded, but in 2024, the proportion dropped to 23%, a big improvement.”
While UNEB celebrates these improvements, the misuse of special needs provisions by some schools remains a pressing issue, prompting the Board to call for stricter monitoring and adherence to guidelines.
