The Kampala Capital City Private Schools Teachers Association has attributed the primary seven mock examination failure to poor teaching in schools.

The association’s chairperson, Haruna Nambale, expressed his concern while presenting the results of the mock exams to the school heads of various schools in Kampala on August 28, 2024, highlighting it as a pressing issue in the education system of Uganda.

According to Nambale, the Primary Seven pupils from Kampala performed poorly, which shows that the teachers are not doing their work diligently.

’’Most of the pupils had poor handwriting, and one could not easily understand what they were trying to mean. They also did not know or understand what they were answering, which shows that they crammed things in their heads and did not understand what they were taught. And lastly, when some of them did know the answers, they would write pleas for forgiveness or admissions of ignorance, and this shows how unprepared they were,’’ Nambale stated.

’’Out of the subjects we set for them, math and science were the most poorly done subjects, and copying was so high that they were copying each other’s names, which was so disturbing and worrying,’’ he added.

He said that the best pupil in Kampala City, who came from Zainab Junior School, got 9 points, and yet Kampala is always among the best districts when UNEB results are released.

Nambale also revealed that there was a school that had 60 pupils, but they all failed, and not even one got a pass in any subject, hence showing that these pupils have no problem, but rather the teachers are the ones with a problem.

Nambale called for self-examination among teachers and a reassessment of teaching strategies since UNEB is just around the corner. He also called on educators, parents, and policymakers to collaborate and address different challenges to ensure that students are equipped with the knowledge and skills necessary for success in their academic pursuits and beyond.

3900 pupils from 120 schools in Kampala sat for these mock exams; only 190 passed in first grade, 1110 passed in second grade, 1260 passed in third grade, 660 passed in fourth grade, and 490 were ungraded.