Ntinda school champion cites New Vision study material for UCE success

KAMPALA - Nakato Niceaflo, a standout student at Kampala city-based Rise and Shine High School, Ntinda, has attributed her impressive performance in the 2025 Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) exams to the New Vision study materials.

Nakato scored 7As and 2Bs, making her one of the top performers in the country.

"I credit my success to the New Vision study materials. The materials were comprehensive and helped me understand complex concepts easily,” Nakato said as she joined colleagues to celebrate the success in exams recently.

The New Vision study materials have become a symbol of academic success per confessions of many learners, teachers, school administrators and educationists.

The 2025 UCE results showed a significant improvement, with 99.6% of candidates qualifying for the UCE certificate, allowing them to join Senior Five.

This was a notable improvement from the previous year (2024), when 1.9% of candidates did not qualify.

Nakato's achievement is not only a reflection of her hard work but also a testament to the effectiveness of the New Vision study materials. Her success story inspires other students to strive for excellence.

New Vision resumes study guides publication 

New Vision resumed resume publication of Pass O’level competency-based study guides on February 24, 2026.

Vision Group media in education manager Esther Arinaitwe said education is at the core of their service and that since the rollout of the competency-based curriculum in 2021, New Vision has been at the centre of popularising it and demystifying it for teachers, learners, parents and the public.

Speaking during a visit to Kyambogo College School in Wakiso, where the New Vision team met Senior Four students, Arinaitwe urged learners to look out for the study guides, discuss them in groups and write their feedback to New Vision.

She, however, noted that even without academic study guides, the newspaper is a vital learning aid for all students as it helps them to relate classroom knowledge to the real world.

“No single syllabus can comprehensively cover all the knowledge that you need. Read widely, understand concepts deeply and apply them.  Do not limit your learning experience to lesson notes. There is a level beyond which a learner who only depends on classroom notes can’t go,” Arinaitwe said.

She tasked the students to randomly select a story from New Vision, read it and explain how it relates to any topic in the subjects they study.

Abigail Ankunda, a student, upon reading an excerpt from a story in Mwalimu, shared that the story helps her understand the concept of career choices that is taught in the English language. She added that the story would also be a helpful guide in composition writing.

Benjamin Magala, also a student, said his chosen story elaborated the topic of selecting leaders through voting, which they study in Political Education.

From a mining story, Desire Abeho said he saw several concepts that they have learnt in Geography.

Arinaitwe also noted that reading news shapes behaviour and attitudes. The students said the story on a UCE star born without limbs helped them appreciate that people with disability can have great potential, while others said it helped them realize that they did not have an excuse to fail.

Other students explained that after reading a story on the increased crime rate in Kampala, they realise the need to be more vigilant to protect their belongings while in the city.

In closing, the Senior Four history and political education teacher, James Luutu, emphasised the need for newspapers in education.

“Newspapers will help you understand why you are studying that particular content, how it is relevant to you, and how you can use it to solve real world problems,” Luutu said.

About study guides

New Vision’s O-Level study guides are fully aligned with the competency-based curriculum. They go beyond memorisation to building skills, strengthening critical thinking, and helping learners apply knowledge to real-life situations.

The guides are prepared by experienced teachers and curriculum experts and are up-to-date and user-friendly for teachers, parents and students.

Timetable

Monday - Maths

Wednesday - Chemistry

Thursday - Physics

Friday - Biology