30% of teachers fail exams
Jul 31, 2007
OVER 3,000 Grade III primary school teachers have failed this year’s examinations compared to 1,405 last year, statistics released yesterday have shown.
By Carol Natukunda
OVER 3,000 Grade III primary school teachers have failed this year’s examinations compared to 1,405 last year, statistics released yesterday have shown.
This shows a decline in overall performance from 83.5% in 2006 to 71.3% in 2007. Of 10,947 candidates who sat for the examinations, 3,142 failed, 1,689 got passes, 6,114 registered credits while only two got distinctions.
A Grade III certificate is the lowest qualification awarded to candidates who begin teachers’ training after O’ Level. One is only eligible to teach after passing the examinations.
“We ask those who failed to repeat at their own cost. But you can’t keep on repeating. There is a limit,†the State Minister for Primary Education, Peter Lokeris, said while releasing the results at the education ministry offices in Kampala.
“The element of laxity must stop. Grade III teachers form the backbone of the education system. They lay the foundation, so emphasis has to be put on professional quality to match the needs of the UPE programme,†a tough-talking Lokeris stressed.
He noted that the number of candidates who sat for exams had gone up, from 9,411 last year to 10,947 this year, giving an increase of 16%.
Earlier, while presenting the results to the minister, the Kyambogo University Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Lutalo Bbosa, attributed the decline in performance to the changes in regulation.
“This year, for one to pass, one had to pass all the six theory subjects and school practice, unlike in the past when one could fail one subject and still pass,†Bbosa said.
He was optimistic that the quality of teachers being passed out this year would be higher than that in previous years.
Kyambogo is mandated to design, test and implement the curriculum of all the primary teachers’ colleges (PTCs).
The best candidate was Francis Matungulu from St. John Bosco, Nyondo with aggregate 11, followed by Kitgum PTC’s George Otto with aggregate 12.
Lutalo said results of an unidentified candidate had been withheld pending investigations over examination malpractice.
Out of the 48 examination centres countrywide, Bushenyi Core Primary Teachers’ College emerged the best with an 89% pass rate, followed by Kabale Bukinda and St. John Bosco, Nyondo, with 88.6% and 87.6% pass rates respectively.
Kapchorwa PTC was ranked last with a pass rate of only 44%.
OVER 3,000 Grade III primary school teachers have failed this year’s examinations compared to 1,405 last year, statistics released yesterday have shown.
This shows a decline in overall performance from 83.5% in 2006 to 71.3% in 2007. Of 10,947 candidates who sat for the examinations, 3,142 failed, 1,689 got passes, 6,114 registered credits while only two got distinctions.
A Grade III certificate is the lowest qualification awarded to candidates who begin teachers’ training after O’ Level. One is only eligible to teach after passing the examinations.
“We ask those who failed to repeat at their own cost. But you can’t keep on repeating. There is a limit,†the State Minister for Primary Education, Peter Lokeris, said while releasing the results at the education ministry offices in Kampala.
“The element of laxity must stop. Grade III teachers form the backbone of the education system. They lay the foundation, so emphasis has to be put on professional quality to match the needs of the UPE programme,†a tough-talking Lokeris stressed.
He noted that the number of candidates who sat for exams had gone up, from 9,411 last year to 10,947 this year, giving an increase of 16%.
Earlier, while presenting the results to the minister, the Kyambogo University Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Lutalo Bbosa, attributed the decline in performance to the changes in regulation.
“This year, for one to pass, one had to pass all the six theory subjects and school practice, unlike in the past when one could fail one subject and still pass,†Bbosa said.
He was optimistic that the quality of teachers being passed out this year would be higher than that in previous years.
Kyambogo is mandated to design, test and implement the curriculum of all the primary teachers’ colleges (PTCs).
The best candidate was Francis Matungulu from St. John Bosco, Nyondo with aggregate 11, followed by Kitgum PTC’s George Otto with aggregate 12.
Lutalo said results of an unidentified candidate had been withheld pending investigations over examination malpractice.
Out of the 48 examination centres countrywide, Bushenyi Core Primary Teachers’ College emerged the best with an 89% pass rate, followed by Kabale Bukinda and St. John Bosco, Nyondo, with 88.6% and 87.6% pass rates respectively.
Kapchorwa PTC was ranked last with a pass rate of only 44%.