KAMPALA .
The Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb) has released the 2024 Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) indicating that 92,273 ( 65.5 percent) of the 140,888 candidates who sat the exams qualify to join university .
This implies that an extra 11,457 candidates are joining university this year compared to 80,816 (73.8 percent in 2023.
“ This is consistent with the fact that there was a significant increase in entries for the exams in 2024” Mr Dan Odongo , the Uneb executive director said during the release of results at State Lodge ,Nakasero on Friday .
In cases where one Principal and Two Subsidiary Pass levels are considered for admission to other tertiary institutions, Mr Odongo said a total of 121,506 (86.2 percent) candidates qualify.
Just has it has been over the years , girls ,although fewer in number than the boys ,performed proportionally better than boys.
“ The percentage passes at the upper levels (3 Principal passes and 2 Principal passes) are higher ,while the percentage passes at the lower levels and failure rates among female candidates are lower than for the males ,’’ he said
Uneb reported an improved performance in Economic, Literature in English , Physics and Biology and girls performed better than boys at Principal level (A-E) in all humanity subjects ,Physics and General Paper ,as has been the case over the years .
However , Mr Odongo said although proportionally ( in terms of percentage at the different pass levels) there is an overall drop in pass level ,the actual numbers show more candidates have passed at all the levels .
Inmates :
The results show that 52.1 percent (25 inmates) of 48 inmates who sat the exams , passed with 3 Principal passes and all qualify for UACE certificate .Only one candidate did not sit for exams. A total of 1,108 candidates across the country didn’t show up for exams . Examinations for 38 centres were withheld over suspected malpractices
Education Minister Janet Museveni while releasing the results said for candidates interested in applying for government sponsorship for programmes offered at all public universities and other tertiary institutions – including the Technical Colleges, for the academic year, the application window was open from November 4 20224 to January 20,2025 by the Public Universities Admissions Board (PUJAB) for the 2025/2026 Academic Year
“Hopefully, you took advantage and applied. The TVET path also has the decentralized application modality that runs outside the PUJAB process. The date for decentralized application shall be communicated to the public by the Ministry of Education and Sports for the April/May window,” she said
She commended Makerere University for hosting of the PUJAB Secretariat and taking the PUJAB application process online starting with the 2025/2026 academic year applications. “This is commendable use of ICTs in delivering an enhanced learner experience while accessing education services in an efficient manner,” the minister said
The First Lady urged sector players stop seeing national exams as another annual ritual ,saying here they miss salient issues affecting the sector .
“For example, there is need to take interest in what has led to the significant increase of 28 percent in UACE candidature for year 2024 compared with previous years….so, it is important that this nearly 30 percent increment in the 2024 UACE candidature is scientifically and logically explained to enable the government to know the good efforts that need to be made better while at the same time doing away with investments that are of little to no value in Secondary Education,” she said
The minister commended the increasing number of learners who study sciences and mathematics .
“ This is a desirable trend that is good for our science-driven socio-economic transformation as a country.
Evidence points to the fact that learners get interested in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education because it is often engaging and project-based, allowing them to tackle real-world problems, fostering critical thinking, and developing skills valuable for future careers and innovation.”
She reiterated that government is making strategic investments in reviewing the Secondary Education Curricula to be competence-based, project-based, and learner-centred for the learning process not only to become meaningful, but enjoyable for both the learners and teachers.
“The A-Level curriculum has been aligned to the lower secondary curriculum by making it competency-based and learner-centred. In making it competence-based, the emphasis of learning is not only on acquisition of knowledge, but translating this knowledge into desirable skills, values, and attitudes.
“This alignment of the A-Level Curriculum is intended to make the methods of learning interactive; while emphasizing problem-solving, critical-thinking, creativity, and innovation as demonstrated in the way learners solve the challenges, they encounter in their day-to-day life. It is therefore my hope that the learners who have progressed to Senior Five will have a smooth encounter with the A-level curriculum in terms of the learning methodologies used,”
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