Special Needs Education candidates who took the 2024 Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) performed well despite the challenges they faced.
While releasing the results at State House in Nakasero on Thursday, Daniel Odongo, Executive Director of the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB), announced that a total of 3,328 learners with various special needs, including those who are blind, deaf, physically handicapped, and dyslexic registered for the exams.
This represents an increase from 2,652 in 2023. The Board attributed this rise in student numbers to increased awareness efforts in schools by UNEB and the Ministry of Education and Sports.
The results show that 181 candidates achieved Division One, 1,712 Division Two, 637 Division Three, and 371 Division Four, while 388 were ungraded. Forty-eight special needs pupils did not sit for the examination.
“The Board recognizes that such candidates may get attacks during the examination period and are therefore given an extra 45 minutes. However, these candidates do not require any specialized assistance beyond the extra time,” Mr Odongo said.
Odongo noted that the majority of these candidates achieved Division Two, representing 51.5% of the total, which is above the national mean of 50.5%.
