2014 UCE: Pamphlets blamed for exam failures

By Francis Kagolo, Conan Businge and Steven Candia

KAMPALA - Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) examiners have attributed the big number of failures recorded in last year’s O’level examinations to the persistent use of pamphlets by students and teachers.

The examiners said the pamphlets have weakened the students’ reasoning capacity, affecting their performance in the final exams.

This is contained in the chief examiners’ report, which UNEB’s executive secretary, Matthew Bukenya, forwarded to the education ministry for action.

Bukenya said the exams aimed at testing the acquisition of knowledge and understanding, analytical skills and manipulation of scientific apparatus.

The exams also tested science process skills of making observations, recording observations and other data as well as drawing inferences or conclusions from these observations.
 

Education  minister Jesicca Alupo (R) displays the 2014 UCE results on Tuesday. Middle is UNEB chairperson Mary Okwakol and UNEB secretary UNEB Mathew Bukenya. (Photo credit: Kennedy Oryema)

Although the overall performance improved this year, examiners noted: “Where an explanation or a description was required, (some) candidates wrote answers in outline form as they are written in the pamphlets and lost marks as a result.

“There is evidence that the use of the prescribed textbooks in teaching is being avoided by many teachers in preference to the pamphlets.”

The issue of some students failing exams because of the overdependence on pamphlets has been appearing in various UNEB reports over the years, although the ministry is yet to take any action.

Last year, Francis Agula, the then commissioner for secondary education, said the preference for pamphlets is a manifestation of poor preparation among teachers, who settle for ‘outline answers’.

UNEB said using pamphlets mostly affected students of arts subjects, where answers that required explanations or descriptions suffered from English language deficiency.
 

A comparison of 2014 and 2013 performance in selected subjects. (Photo credit: Kennedy Oryema)

“Higher order questions and those that require candidates to draw from their knowledge and experiences were badly answered,” the examiners’ report states.

“Geography was badly done due to poor map and sketch drawing skills, inability to deal with statistical problems and representing such statistics using line or bar graphs and piecharts.”

In sciences, the examiners noted the persistent lack of practical teaching despite recent efforts to supply laboratory equipment to schools.

“Candidates found problems in the handling of apparatus during the practical tests as well as the making and recording of observations, tabulation and interpretation of experimental results.”

As a result, performance in science continued to be poor with only 45% of the candidates reaching the minimum competence level.

Dr. Yusuf Nsubuga, the director for basic and secondary education, highlighted the need to retool science teachers, as well as supply more readers and instructional materials to improve both practical science teaching and literacy.

He also said the ministry plans to recruit more science teachers this year to address the problem of numbers.