By Abubaker Kirunda & Tausi Nakato
The Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb) says the release of last year’s Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) results will not be possible this week because the line Minister is yet to confirm the programme.
Ms Jennifer Kalule, the Uneb spokesperson, says the examinations body has written to the Minister of Education and Sports, Ms. Janet Museveni, requesting for an appointment for a briefing before releasing the results, but no reply has been made.
“So, I cannot confirm that there will be a release of results this week,” Ms Kalule told KFM in an interview on Monday.
Uneb usually releases PLE results before January 20, with the exception of the 2019 results, which were released in July due to the outbreak of Covid-19, while 2022 results were released on January 27 due to the Minister’s alleged busy schedule.
Primary school managers were expecting the PLE results to be released this week since there was no interruption in the examination process.
Mr Muzamiru Musembya, the director of Buwenge Blue Day and Boarding Primary School in Buwenge Town Council, Jinja District, says he was expecting the results to be released as has been the norm per the education calendar, and it will be a “surprise” if they aren’t released.
According to Mr Musembya, releasing PLE results early gives parents and school managers a chance to prepare for the next level of education for their children.
He added: “When results come out early as it has been the case, parents plan for which secondary schools to take their children, while we, the school directors, get a chance of getting new pupils because some parents look at Primary Seven performance to give us leaners.”
Mr Musembya further explained that his staff is already at the school waiting to register new pupils, but the turn-up is not as good as in previous years but hopes the number will increase after PLE results have been released.
Ms Ketty Lamaro, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education and Sports didn’t respond to our repeated calls seeking a comment on this matter.
A total of 749,347 pupils sat for PLE in 2023, including 391,558 females and 357,789 males.
