The Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) results that were released yesterday by the Minister of Education and Sports, Ms Janet Museveni, showed that Biology was the most-improved subject from 2023.
The results, which are the last batch to be released by the Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb), are for candidates who sat for the examinations between November 11 and December 6, 2024.
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The Uneb Executive Director, Mr Dan Odongo, said a total of 141,996 candidates registered for the examinations compared to 110,566 candidates in 2023, which marked an increase of 31,430 candidates (28.4 percent), described by Mr Odongo as “a very significant increase in candidature compared to previous years.”
Of these, Mr Odongo said 61,957 (43.6 percent) were females and 80,039 (56.4%) were males, who also accounted for 53.1 percent (16,695) of the increased candidature.
“It is possible that as a result of the change in admission criteria for primary school teachers, those candidates that would have gone for Grade Three teachers’ training after Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) chose to pursue the UACE pathway,” Mr Odongo said at State Lodge, Nakasero in Kampala.
According to the results, while there were improvements in Economics, Literature in English, Physics, and Biology at the Principal pass (A – E) level, the performance in Biology improved in leaps and bounds compared to the previous year (2023).
Out of 24,634 candidates who sat for Biology last year, 1.1 percent (270) obtained an A, while 57.7 percent (14,213) obtained a Principal pass (A-E).
This is in sharp contrast with 2023, where out of the 19,934 candidates who sat for the subject, only 2 percent (398) obtained an A, and 45.2 percent (9,010) got a Principal pass.
The perennial poor performance of candidates in science subjects, particularly Biology, in 2023 prompted Makerere University to commission a study under the office of the Deputy Vice Chancellor Academic Affairs, aimed at averting the trend.
Taking action
The Dean of the School of Bioscience, Prof Arthur Tugume, said the study would be done in two phases, starting with the identification of the root causes of poor performance, which will be undertaken through analyzing qualifications, competence, and availability of Biology teachers and technicians, and the Biology curriculum.
The study would also analyze how topics are segregated, the state of the laboratory, the state of field infrastructure for teaching Biology at A-Level, and attitudes of learners towards the subject.
Earlier, the Makerere University College of Natural Sciences (CONAS), through the School of Biosciences, analyzed the academic performance in Biology at UACE for nearly half a century and observed that since the late 1970s, poor performance of the subject has been the case.
The college’s analysis of the 2018 exams, whose results were released in February 2019, showed that a total of 13,061 candidates sat for Biology countrywide.
Of these, only one candidate scored an A principal pass, 38 percent scored at least an E, leaving almost 80 percent with the score of O or F (fail).
In 2019, the analysis showed that only 44 candidates countrywide scored an A in Biology.
But in 2020, of the 15,058 candidates who sat for Biology, 1.2 percent (181) scored an A, while 60.3 percent scored in the A-E pass level.
It was a good year, since 89 percent, that is 13,401 candidates, passed the subject. 1,656 failed.
However, the trend of poor performance in Biology was noted in the 2022 exams, where only 0.1 percent (about 18 candidates) of learners scored an A, 67.4 percent scored A-O, while 32.6 percent (5,866 learners) failed.
In comparison to Mathematics, Chemistry, and Physics in the 2022 exams, Biology was the worst-done science subject.
Experts theorized that the continued poor performance in Biology has affected the totality of life-sciences, the academic and research ecosystem in Makerere University, several essential sectors, and government agencies whose mandates are hinged on Biology.
Improvement in other subjects
During the release of the 2024 UACE results, other than Biology, Mr Odongo also noted improvements in Economics, Literature in English, and Physics.
Out of 31,579 candidates who sat for Economics in 2024, 1.9 percent (600) got an A, while 60.6 percent (19,136) obtained a Principal pass, compared to 30,461 candidates in 2023, where 1.1 percent (335) obtained an A and 52.5 percent (15,992) scored a Principal pass.
Candidates who sat for Literature in English last year were 8,192, with 2.9 percent (237) scoring an A, while 84.7 percent (6,938) obtained a Principal pass.
This, however, was in sharp contrast with 7,130 candidates who sat for the subject in 2023, with 1.8 percent (128) obtaining an A and 78 percent (5,561) garnering a Principal pass.
As for Physics, 23,508 candidates sat for the subject in 2024, with 6.6 percent (1,551) getting an A and 57.3 percent (13,470) a Principal pass.
The previous year, 17,106 candidates sat for the subject, and 2.3 percent (393) got an A and 48.3 percent (8,262) earned a Principal pass.
“As reported last year, the numbers of candidates registering and appearing for Mathematics and the Sciences are gradually increasing, with Mathematics having the largest increase.
However, overall, the numbers have remained well below half of the total candidature. The low pass rates in Sciences at the UCE level probably explain the low numbers transitioning to UACE level for those subjects,” Mr Odongo said.
In 2024, the number of candidates who registered for Mathematics was 58,495 compared to 45,414 in 2023.
Those who sat for Physics were 23,679 compared to 17,106.
Chemistry had 29,283 compared to 21,779 in the previous year.
Biology had 24,853 compared to 19,934.
List of top schools per subject
UACE 2024 Top Schools in Agriculture
UACE 2024 Top Schools in Biology
UACE 2024 Top Schools in Chemistry
UACE 2024 Top Schools in Economics
UACE 2024 Top Schools in Entreprenuership
UACE 2024 Top Schools in Food and Nutrition
UACE 2024 Top Schools in French
UACE 2024 Top Schools in Geography
UACE 2024 Top Schools in History
UACE 2024 Top Schools in Kiswahili
UACE 2024 Top Schools in Literature
UACE 2024 Top Schools in Luganda
UACE 2024 Top Schools in Mathematics
