First Lady and Minister of Education and Sports Mrs Janet Museveni has asked headteachers to ensure the safety of learners in schools to avert loss of lives.

“Last year, we lost lives and property in a number of school fires and we would not like to have those experiences again. Please ensure that you put in place safety measures that will protect our learners while they are in school,” she advised.

Mrs Museveni made the call on Tuesday, February 27, 2024, in a speech delivered on her behalf by the primary education state minister Joyce Moriku Kaducu, during the closure of the two-day Senior Five placement exercise at the Uganda Manufacturer's Association grounds in Kampala.

The First Lady also urged the headteachers to adhere to the Directorate of Education Standards guidelines.

“Some of your schools still have triple deckers which were banned, poorly ventilated dormitories and poor hygiene,” Mrs Museveni observed.

She, therefore, requested the local leaders to monitor schools and ensure that basic requirements and minimum standards are adhered to, emphasising that education is a shared responsibility.

Dr Joyce Kaducu (left), State minister for primary education interacts with Dr Jane Egau (centre) as Enock Bongyeirwe Gumisiriza (right), Education ministry assistant commissioner looks on during the second day of the senior five selection exercise at UMA showgrounds in Kampala. Photo by Juliet Kasirye

Mrs Museveni said the number and percentage of learners who passed the examinations are eligible to proceed to A’level or a training institution has increased.

The First Lady also noted a steady decline in absenteeism among candidates who registered to sit end of O’level examination and improvement in the quality of grades.

Raised cut-off points 

During the placement exercise, many schools raised their Senior Five cut-off entry points due to improved performance in last year's O’ level examinations.

Performance in the 2023 examinations is significantly better than that of 2022, with the failure rate dropping by 0.5%, according to Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) executive director Dan Odongo.

Odongo said this implies that 329,939 (95.9%) of the learners who presented themselves for the 2023 examination can progress to the post-UCE level.

According to UNEB, the candidature increased by 15,008 (4.3%) from 349,459, in 2022 to 364,469 in 2023 The candidates sat from 3,808 examination centres.

Dr Joyce Kaducu (left), State minister for primary education representing the First Lady Janet Museveni interacts with Dr Jane Egau (centre) as Enock Bongyeirwe Gumisiriza (right), Education ministry assistant commissioner looks on during the second day of the senior five selection exercise at UMA showgrounds in Kampala on February 27, 2024. Photo by Juliet Kasirye

Of these candidates, 118,633 (32.5%) were Universal Secondary Education beneficiaries. The number of male candidates registered was 180,471 (49.5%) and that of females was 183,998 (50.5%). There were 3,527 more females than males who registered for the examination.

Special needs education

UNEB also disclosed that 809 special needs education candidates (368 males and 441 females) registered for the 2023 UCE examination compared to 721 in 2022.

This, according to Odongo, is an increase of 12.2% over last year. These consisted of the blind (35), low vision (183), deaf (71), dyslexics (90) and physically handicapped (79).

There were 351 others with other forms of disability that only needed to be given extra time. Only 12 (1.5%) candidates were absent.