The selection of Senior One (S1) students will take place next week on January 30 and 31, 2025, according to First Lady and Minister of Education and Sports, Hon Janet Kataaha Museveni.
She made the remarks on Thursday while presiding over the release of the 2024 Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) at the State Lodge in Nakasero, Kampala.
“I also announce that the first term for the new S1 cohort will commence on Monday, February 17, 2025,” she noted.
According to the Minister, it is good to note that the Universal Education Policy, has enabled more children to attend school, as seen by the significant increase in candidature and the decrease in dropout or absenteeism, which is now at only 1.3 percent.
“This trend has been on a steady decline over the last five years, from a high of 1.8 percent in 2019. I want to call upon headteachers and School Management Committees to pay attention to the problem of learner dropout, especially those that have registered for PLE,” she said.
She added: “We must look into this issue and understand why a learner who has registered to sit PLE, does not show up to sit the exams.”
According to the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB), less than 20% of the 2024 PLE candidates exhibited higher ability in any of the subjects. The percentage of candidates (about 17%) with higher ability in Mathematics and English was higher than that of Integrated Science and Social Studies and Religious Studies (about 14%).
Two-thirds of the candidates exhibited medium ability in English and Social Studies. About 3 in 5 candidates exhibited medium ability in Integrated Science. The percentage of candidates who exhibited lower ability was highest in Integrated Science p by English (17.2%).