The Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) Executive Secretary Daniel Nokrach Odongo has revealed that there has been a decline in the number of females candidates enrolled at the UACE level as compared to PLE and UCE levels.
“Whereas at the PLE and UCE levels, we observed that the number of female candidates was higher, at UACE, the gap is quite wide with the boys making up to 58.2 percent,” said Odongo
In the year 2018, UNEB registered 41,313 UACE female candidates well as 43,625 female candidates were enrolled this year hence registering a fall-off of 2312 female candidates.
Meanwhile, Odongo attributes this to many other avenues that females tend to opt for other than joining the Advanced Level.
“After UCE, a number of female students opt for other institutions like nursing schools, primary teachers colleges, and secretarial fields as these tend to attract mainly females,” said Odongo.
Odongo revealed this while addressing journalists at the UNEB headquarters on Thursday ahead of the coming UACE examinations that will commence on Monday 11th.
A total of 104,481 candidates were registered to sit for this year’s UACE exams from 1982 centres across the country.43, 625 of these candidates are female whereas 60,856 are males.
31 inmates and 191 candidates with disabilities were registered this year.
However, there has been a 4.8 percent increase of candidates from 99,672 in 2018 to 104,481 this year.
Meanwhile, Odongo appealed to heads of schools not to stop candidates with fees balances from sitting their final exams but they should instead opt for other techniques of collecting their balances
“We appeal to schools to grant opportunities to candidates that have not cleared school dues and then opt for other mechanisms of collecting dues from them,” Odongo said.
Odongo further cautioned school heads to distance themselves from picking students from examination rooms over fees balances and indiscipline cases
“As UNEB, we shall not tolerate any Head Teacher who enters the examination room and plucks out a student who is already sitting,” Odongo said.
