Nearly 1,000 pupils fail Mock Exams in Masindi

Masindi: At least 994 pupils who sat for the 2026 Primary Leaving Examination (PLE) Mock Exams in Masindi District have scored Division U, according to results released on Thursday.

The results show that out of 3,653 candidates who sat the mock examinations, 275 passed in Division One, 924 in Division Two, 596 in Division Three, 994 in Division U, while 40 candidates were placed in Division X. The overall pass rate was 72 percent.

Releasing the results at the Masindi District Chambers, Monica Kiiza, the Acting District Education Officer (DEO)  said English was the best-performing subject, with 3,217 candidates (88 percent) passing, followed by Science at 2,914 (80 percent), Social Studies (SST) at 2,458 (67 percent) and Mathematics at 2,324 (64 percent).

Kiiza said the examination questions were set at the expected level and based on the syllabus being implemented in schools.

“Some learners had poor handwriting and unnecessary crossings by some candidates led to losing marks since it was difficult to read some statements. There was also poor question approach during answering,” Kiiza said.

She also cited poor interpretation of words and mathematical language, as well as mistakes in writing names and index numbers, which in some cases made it difficult to identify candidates correctly.

“Poor interpretation of questions, wrong spellings of words, coupled with untidy work and poor handwriting on candidates’ answer papers was so much observed,” she added.

Kiiza attributed part of the poor performance to absenteeism, urging parents and guardians to ensure that children attend school consistently.

Edward Businge Kirya, the Assistant DEO challenged head teachers to take immediate measures to improve academic performance ahead of the final PLE examinations.

Businge said schools should complete the syllabus, hold meetings with parents and guardians, ensure learners report to school on the first day of the term and revise past examination papers, including mock examinations from other districts.

He said head teachers should work towards ensuring that every school produces at least one Division One candidate in the 2026 PLE.

Wilson Byaruhanga, the Coordinator of Head Teachers in Masindi District, described the performance as fair but urged schools to engage parents and other stakeholders to find ways of improving the results before the final examinations.

Meanwhile, Nteiraho Byoona, Chairperson of the Masindi District Primary School Head Teachers Association, said there was a need to improve learners’ ability to interpret and answer questions.

He also raised concern over the practice of some teachers, particularly English teachers, helping learners answer examination questions, saying this affects their ability to work independently.

Top-performing schools

Marylyne Primary School emerged as the best-performing school, with all its 21 candidates passing in Division One.

It was followed by Walyoba Brilliant Primary School, which had 18 candidates in Division One and four in Division Two, while Ebenezer Primary School registered 19 candidates in Division One and 15 in Division Two.

Among the poorest-performing schools was Kimanya Upper Primary School, which had no candidates in Divisions One or Two, one in Division Three, seven in Division Four and 41 in Division U.

Siiba Primary School also had no candidates in divisions one or two, while six were in Division Three, four in division four and 26 in Division U.

At Kikuube Primary School, no candidate attained division one, six were in division two, none was in division Three, 27 were in division four, while one candidate missed the examination.

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