First Lady Janet Museveni releases 2023 PLE results

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Presented and edited by Joseph Kizza
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 1:16 PM 

Education minister releases 2023 PLE results

 BREAKING NEWS 

The First Lady and Minister of Education and Sports, Janet Museveni, releases the results of the 2023 PLE.

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 1:15 PM 

Senior One selection

The First Lady says the selection exercises of Senior One will take place on February 1-2.

Thereafter, the first term for the Senior One cohort of 2024 will begin on February 19. It will be a Monday.
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 1:13 PM 

Congratulations to all performers

The education minister goes on to congratulate the candidates who have performed well and thank everyone who played a role in their success.

She also pays tribute to the immediate former UNEB chairperson, Mary Okwakol (most of the 2023 exams were prepared during her term of office) and welcomes Prof. Obua as the new chairperson "and I trust that he will build on the strong foundations his predecessor laid down".

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 1:10 PM 

On exam malpractice

"The act of assisting learners to cheat in examination erodes the confidence and credibility of the entire education system and the integrity of the country at large," says the First Lady.

In that spirit, she appeals to the security agencies, including Uganda Police Force and the Judiciary, "to help us bring to book those persons proven to be complicit in any form of examination malpractice".

The education minister says that when learners who cheat go through "unmasked", it communicates "a bad image to the peers".

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 1:07 PM 

Thorough continuous assessment

"As a mnistry [education], we are going to have to review the arrangement where learners were being progressed to the next class before attaining the minimum knowledge and skills as evidence of learning," says the education minister.

"This means that the headteachers and classroom teachers alike need to be thorough with what continuous assessment is supposed to help these children.

"It is a disservice to move a learner to the next level when you are a teacher or a headteacher very well aware that the child has not demonstrated minimum mastery of the appropriate knowledge and skills in the previous class.

"It is a disservice to that child, it is a disservice to the whole system of education. Therefore, I ask the directorate of education standards to work with the district education offices to ensure that capacity is built in our schools to utilize formative assessment because promoting a learner to the next class simply because the year has come to an end is a disservice to that child, to education and to the country."
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 1:04 PM 

A second chance for ungraded candidates

On the high number of ungraded (Division U) candidates, the First Lady says the Government "is going to ensure that this trend is reversed right from the root cause".

"As Government, we need to provide a pathway of hope to these learners. Therefore, I have instructed the permanent secretary for the Ministry of Education and Sports to communicate to the respective accounting officers in the local governments that such learners be accorded an opportunity to repeat Primary Seven in all public primary schools," she says.

"And then we can all work hard with them to better their grades to a level where they can qualify for various opportunities of education beyond Primary Seven.

"Meaning, as the children try to work hard themselves, the parents must support them, the teachers must support them and also the Ministry of Education do everything it will take to support these children so that we see them through this level of education so that they, too, can at least get a certificate for primary education as they go out into the world."

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 12:57 PM 

On special needs learners

Mrs. Museveni goes on to thank UNEB for working to ensure that "our children with special learning needs are adequately prepared to take the examination".

In her view, "the number of special needs education learners who sit PLE are increasing, not because we are having more children with disabilities, but the sensitization being done and the realization by more parents that these children must not be kept at home but that they also must go to school, just like all the children".

She says she appreciates the concern by the educationists that it remains costly process the examination and assessment of this category of learners.

"We shall study further this area of assessment and examination of special needs learners and see what feasible interventions we need to make in a manageable manner without compromising on the quality of education that this category of learners assesses and attains."
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 12:55 PM 

Why is the boy child not completing primary?

The education says that despite efforts in realizing gender parity in access to primary education for boys and girls, she observes a "concerning trend" regarding the boy child.

"The statistics from UNEB indicate that we are now seeing an undesirable trend, whereby more girls are completing the primary education cycle while boys are increasingly dropping out.

"This is a moment for us as a sector [education] to look back and reflect on this undesirable trend. Why is the boy child not completing primary education. We must all begin to get worried and try to find out what is the answer to this question.

"We need to prescribe solutions that address the fundamental causes to prevent this negative trend from getting out of control," says the First Lady.
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 12:52 PM 

Absenteeism reversed, but more work needed

The First Lady is pleased to see "a negative development that absentee candidates of PLE has been reversed.

"In fact, the rate has come down to the lowest level compared to the previous five years," she says.

"Nonetheless, 1.6%  or 12,000 pupils who were absent remains a large number. When a child fails to show up for the end-of-cycle examination, it is a wastage of that life, which had spent six to now seven years and then the government spent resources for the entire education system and then the families who were walking with these children.

"When this child does not sit their exam, it is truly a pity. A pity for the whole system.

"Therefore, I reiterate the appeal I made last year. To the parents and to the teachers to ensure that a child who has been registered to sit their end-of-cycle examination does not miss doing so," says Mrs Museveni.
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 12:48 PM 

Last cohorts of abridged curriculum

The education minister says the drop in P7 candidature last year as compared to 2022 "was anticipated as an impact of COVID-19 on the education system".

The pandemic distorted the enrolment of pre-Primary Seven classes, especially Primary Six.

"The major COVID-19 recovery intervention, that is still under way in the education sector, is implementation of the abridged curriculum. I have been informed by the National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC) that the P7 and S4 cohorts of 2024 are the last classes of learners utilizing the abridged curriculum," says the First Lady.

"Thereafter, we shall be using the full primary school curriculum and the revised O'Level curriculum after this year."

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 12:44 PM 

'Special calling'

The First Lady and education minister, Janet Museveni, starts off her remarks by placing God first, saying "He is so gracious to us that we all are here, none of us is missing and that we must remember to thank Him for his faithfulness".

"He has indeed enabled us as a ministry [education] and as a country to complete the 2023 school calendar activities, now culminating in the release of the 2023 PLE results.

"We thank God for the lives of our children, their parents and their teachers, who have walked with them throughout their primary education cycle. We also condole with the families that may have lost their children to one cause or another, as well as teachers who passed away on duty."

The First Lady says teaching is a "special calling" that is "unique because it is sacrificial and much cannot be accomplished in the learners' time in school when the teacher is unavailable".
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 12:43 PM 

Primary education state minister Joyce Moriku Kaducu is invited to take the honour of inviting the First Lady.

She congratulates all the education minister, candidates, parents and teachers on achieving "this huge milestone because it directly impacts on the future of our learners".

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 12:35 PM 

UNEB hands over 2023 PLE results

 BREAKING NEWS 

The UNEB hierarchy, joined by former chairperson Mary Okwakol, hand over the 2023 PLE results to the First Lady and Minister of Education and Sports, Janet Museveni, for official release.

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 12:32 PM 

📝 Collecting results

UNEB executive director also mentions how the 2023 PLE results can be collected.

▪️  To begin with, the results will be uploaded on the examination centre portals.

▪️  Each school can, therefore, download their results as soon as they are officially released.

▪️  The district, municipal and city inspectors of schools may collect hard copies of the results from UNEB offices at Ntinda starting this coming Monday (January 29).

▪️  No copies of results are available as of now.

▪️  Parents, candidates and other interested parties may use the short messaging service (SMS) on mobile networks, which will post results of candidates on their mobile sets instantly.
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 12:27 PM 

60 inmates sat 2023 PLE

Earlier, Odongo had talked about the performance of incarcerated candidates behind bars.

UNEB has an examination centre at the Uganda Government Upper Prison School, Luzira. For last year's PLE, 69 candidates were registered, one more than the 2022 number.

Of the 60 candidates who eventually sat the exam, two passed in Division 1, 32 scored Division 2,  15 got Division 3, five obtained Division 4, and six were ungraded.
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 12:23 PM 

'Fair hearing'

Speaking about exam malpractice, which UNEB chairperson Obua talked about earlier as a "malady" that continues to exist, Odongo is keen to remind everyone that UNEB will withhold the results of the affected candidates pending completion of investigations.

This is in accordance with Section 5(2) (b) of the UNEB Act, 2021.

"Where there will be a prima facie case, the board's tribunal
(examinations security committee) will accord all the affected candidates a fair hearing before making final decisions. 

"After the conclusion of the hearings by the board's tribunal, the list of districts and schools with cancelled results will be published," says the UNEB ED.
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 12:21 PM 

📺 Live on Bukedde TV 1

Bukedde TV 1 is relaying a live broadcast of the function. Be sure to tune in.

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 12:18 PM 

Division U candidate numbers 'high'

UNEB executive director Odongo goes on to say that a higher proportion of the 2023 candidates passed in Division 3 and above level. 

He also comments about the ungraded candidates (Division U).

"It should be noted that the number of candidates in Division U is quite high, at 88,269 (10.4%) and should raise concern so that they do not just add to the statistics of school drop-outs," says Odongo. 

"There are districts such as Kibuku (31.5o%), Madi Okollo (31.5%), Dokolo (28.9%), Kween (28.4%), Namisindwa (28.9%) where the percentages [of ungraded candidates] are well above the national average. 

"Many other districts have over 20% of the candidates in Division U. It is necessary to find out the causes and address them."

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 12:12 PM 

Better performance in ENG, SCI & Maths

We get to learn that on the performance of candidates by subject, overall, at grade 8 and above, the performace was sightly better in English, Intergrated Science and Mathematics. 

This is as compared with the performance of the previous year (2022).

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 12:09 PM 

Lower registeration in 2023

UNEB executive director Dan Nokrach Odongo is up to deliver his statement.

He says a total of 749,254 candidates from 15,859 examination centres — or schools, if you prefer — registered for PLE in 2023. That number is down from the 832,654 candidates registered the year before (2022).

And of the candidates who registered to sit last year's PLE, 501,602 (66.9%) from 11,365 examination centres were Universal Primary Education (UPE) beneficiaries, and 247,652 (33.1%) of the candidates were non-UPE.

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 11:54 AM 

'Special utility court'

Obua says UNEB is taking keen interest in candidates who have been ungraded (Division U) in the exams by conducting a detailed analysis over the five years.

Division U (ungraded) is awarded to candidates who have failed to reach the minimum level of performance that can be awarded at least a Division 4. They are not eligible for admission to Senior 1 (secondary school).

He also says the "malady" that is exam malpractice continues and that it is worse at PLE level.

The UNEB chairperson says that because handling cases is a costly exercise — both in terms of time and expenses — UNEB is considering setting up a special utility court, which would concentrate all the cases in one place.

Obua says it is important that the cases are dealt with "expeditiously".
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 11:46 AM 

 BREAKING NEWS 

The function for the release of the 2023 PLE exams is under way at State House Nakasero.

UNEB chairperson Prof. Celestino Obua says this year's examinations went on "smoothly" unlike in the past recent years during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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 11:43 AM 

Time for anthems...

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 11:27 AM 

Meanwhile, two days ago (January 23), UNEB released a press statement cautioning heads of examination centres and the public against fraudsters claiming to have access to UNEB's grading system.

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 11:30 AM 

Officials have arrived at the venue and settled in.

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 11:17 AM 

The stage is set at State House Nakasero. It's only a matter time until the function gets under way...

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 11:03 AM 

⚠️  Be aware and be informed

This a message from Vision Group to parents and guardians: You do not have to pay for your children's PLE results and stories to be published or broadcast on any of Vision Group's media platforms.

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 10:52 AM 

The First Lady and Minister of Education and Sports, Janet Museveni, is expected to release the 2023 PLE results at State House Nakasero.

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 10:50 AM 

Good morning!

The jitters. The anxiety. The eagerness. The excitement. The uncertainty.

The release of exam results — or any type of result for that matter — ignites all sorts of emotions. And it all builds up to that very moment when one gets to finally know the outcome of their months and years of commitment.

Then the decompression kicks in.

While some feel like winners after hitting the high scores and grades, others get immersed in a pool disappointment from lacklustre results. It's all part of the topsy-turvy reality.

This is exactly what's going to happen today when the results of the 2023 Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) are released in Uganda's capital Kampala.

It comes after a successful meeting in which Uganda's national exams body, UNEB, briefed the Minister of Education and Sports and other top ministry officials.

In that meeting, the UNEB  team was led by the new chairperson,  Prof. Celestino  Obua, with the board's executive director Dan Nokrach Odongo and other senior managers also in attendance.