UNEB, publish winners
Jan 19, 2008
ON Thursday, the Ministry of Education released Primary Leaving Examination (PLE) results without disclosing the best performing pupils and schools. The Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) says Parliament stopped them from releasing such details.
ON Thursday, the Ministry of Education released Primary Leaving Examination (PLE) results without disclosing the best performing pupils and schools. The Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) says Parliament stopped them from releasing such details.
The MPs reportedly argued that publishing best performers was fuelling unfair competition among schools and encouraging examination malpractices.
This is a flawed argument. Competition results from the reward that goes with passing exams highly, namely going to the best secondary schools in order to get Government sponsorship and prestigious courses at university.
Amid this competition, examination malpractices thrive due to loopholes in the exam setting, storage and distribution system.
To think unfair competition and examination malpractices occur because of publishing best performers is a fundamental failure to understand the flaws in the Ugandan education system. The system rewards rote learning as opposed to creativity and progressive assessment. By refusing to announce winners, UNEB is making it easier for unscrupulous school managers to announce false results.
Publishing of winners is a worldwide practice and in Uganda it has been done for decades. The results reflect the reality on the ground, where there are imbalances in infrastructure and human resource. The ministry should address this problem rather than try to conceal the disparities.
UNEB should get to understand the fundamental problems in education and stop using Parliament as a scapegoat to make such a misconceived decision as refusing to announce winners. Not publishing the results is like trying to solve the problem by hiding their heads in the sand.
The MPs reportedly argued that publishing best performers was fuelling unfair competition among schools and encouraging examination malpractices.
This is a flawed argument. Competition results from the reward that goes with passing exams highly, namely going to the best secondary schools in order to get Government sponsorship and prestigious courses at university.
Amid this competition, examination malpractices thrive due to loopholes in the exam setting, storage and distribution system.
To think unfair competition and examination malpractices occur because of publishing best performers is a fundamental failure to understand the flaws in the Ugandan education system. The system rewards rote learning as opposed to creativity and progressive assessment. By refusing to announce winners, UNEB is making it easier for unscrupulous school managers to announce false results.
Publishing of winners is a worldwide practice and in Uganda it has been done for decades. The results reflect the reality on the ground, where there are imbalances in infrastructure and human resource. The ministry should address this problem rather than try to conceal the disparities.
UNEB should get to understand the fundamental problems in education and stop using Parliament as a scapegoat to make such a misconceived decision as refusing to announce winners. Not publishing the results is like trying to solve the problem by hiding their heads in the sand.