UGANDAN EDUCATION SYSTEM

The education system in Uganda is one likened to the British system. This is because Uganda was a

British colony so the Ugandan educationists just picked up from where the British had left the

country after the country gained independence in 1962.

Classes start at the very early age starting at the age of two in Reception class and Baby class where

the toddlers are taught domestic behaviour and norms like toilet habits among others.

1. Pre primary (reception, baby class, middle class &top class)

2. Primary (P1, P2 P3, P4, P5, P6 &P7)

3. Secondary.

O - Level (S1, S2, S3 & S4).

A - Level (S5&S6)

4. University and vocational training institutions.

Uganda has both public and private education institutions of which all carry out activities basing on

the national curriculum as dictated by Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) an examination

body under the Ministry of Education & Sports.

UNEB is also in charge of setting, marking, and announcing the results of final examinations at all

levels with an exception of Pre-primary.

At primary level the final examination is known as the Primary Leaving Examination (PLE) and grades

as follows for all the four subjects done which include Maths, Science, English & Social Studies.

90-100=D1 70-79=C3 60-64=C5 45-49=P7 00-34=F9 80-89=D2 65-69=C4 50-59=C6 35-44=P8

The best score is aggregate 4 after a collection of distinction 1 in all subjects while the worst is

aggregate 36 after a collection of 9 failures in the four subjects.

At O-level the final examination is known as Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE). Eight compulsory subjects are examined (English, Maths, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Geography, History & Literature) and two optional totalling to ten. The grading is as follows 90-100=D1 70-79=C3 60-64=C5 45-49=P7 00-34=F9 80-89=D2 65-69=C4 50-59=C6 35-44=P8

The best score is aggregate 8 after a collection of distinction 1 in all subjects while the worst is

aggregate 72 after a collection of 9 failures in the subjects.

At A-level the final examination is known as Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE). There

are four taught subjects and a General Paper (GP). The best score is 25 points. 24 points from the

four subjects and 1 point from (GP).

Generally school starts at 8:00 am and ends at 5:00 pm every week day with a break at 10.30 am and

1 pm for lunch. There are three terms in a year; each term consists of three months, with short

holiday breaks between each term of a month or less. The style of teaching is mostly by illustration

on blackboards as well as dictating notes to the students. This is more of a theory type of education

than practical as few or no practical lessons are carried out by students in various schools.

Some schools have clubs and societies run by students and teachers e.g. (debate, scouts, red cross

etc) the co-curricular activities like games and sports (football, rugby, netball, etc) are given little

time mainly on weekends.

The government of Uganda introduced Universal Primary Education (UPE) in 1997 and Universal

Secondary Education (USE) in 2010 with the aim of promoting education in the country. Sadly, both

UPE & USE schools don’t have enough teachers, infrastructure among others despite their

massiveness as an estimated number of 100 students are taught in the same room by one teacher.

This has retarded the proper learning of the students.

There are a number of universities in Uganda, including Makerere University (the largest

government owned university), Kyambogo University, Uganda Christian University and many others.