Boys outperformed girls in the 2024 Primary Leaving Examination (PLE).
Releasing the results on Thursday, Daniel Odongo, Executive Director of the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB), stated that male candidates achieved higher scores and a lower failure rate than female candidates.
According to the results, 45,203 boys passed in Division One compared to 39,098 girls. In Division Two, 192,546 boys passed compared to 205,043 girls. Division Three saw 71,951 boys pass compared to 93,333 girls. In Division Four, 36,049 boys passed compared to 39,507 girls, while 28,110 boys were ungraded compared to 36,141 girls.
Odongo explained that there were more girls in Division Two and the lower divisions because more girls registered for and sat the examinations than boys.
“UNEB also registered 71 candidates from Luzira Upper Prison (70 males and 1 female), and 37 from Mbarara Main Prison (all males). It’s worth noting that the Prison Service is extending the opportunity for inmates to acquire education as they serve their time. For some time, it was only Luzira providing this service but other branches like Mbarara Prisons have also come on board,” Odongo said.
Regarding subject performance, girls performed better than boys in English, continuing a previous trend. Boys, however, performed better in the other three subjects: Mathematics, Social Studies, and Science.