At least 1,853 pupils in Dokolo district have failed the primary seven entry exams.
4,028 pupils spread across 61 government and private primary schools in the district participated in the exams set by Dokolo District Examination Board.
Only 183 and 406 passed in Division I and II respectively, 501 pupils were graded in division III, 1,085 in division IV, and 1,853 under division U.
James Ogwal Lima, the chairperson of Dokolo District Examination Board and the head teacher of Atur primary school, says this year’s performance is generally poor compared to the previous years.
David Livingstone Okello, the Dokolo District Inspector of Schools calls for more efforts from head teachers to improve performance of their schools, saying there is still time.
Betty Agweng, the headmistress of Iguli Primary School acknowledges her school’s poor performance blaming it on the coronavirus pandemic. She is optimistic that the performance will improve
In 2005, Uganda adopted the automatic promotion policy in primary schools with the aim of enhancing the internal efficiency and quality of primary education.
Under the policy, teachers are compelled to promote all pupils whether or not they are prepared for the next class.
However, many teachers protested the policy saying many poor performers are also advanced and later they face problems in comprehending the curriculum of the next class.
-URN
