The Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb) has unveiled a new grading system for Senior Four students, which aligns with the newly implemented competency-based curriculum. Mr. Dan Odongo, the executive director of Uneb, announced this change during an interview at his office in Kyambogo, a suburb of Kampala, indicating that this new assessment method will be applied starting this year.
Under the new system, the Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) examination results will be presented in an alphabetical format, replacing the previous numerical distinctions of distinction, credit, pass, and fail. Mr. Odongo elaborated that the new grading system would use letters A, B, C, D, and E, each representing different levels of achievement in the respective competencies. He highlighted that this system is designed to acknowledge competencies, with 80 percent of the final mark derived from national examinations and 20 percent from continuous assessment.
Continuous assessment will be an annual compilation of students' performance in practical projects, submitted by schools to Uneb to demonstrate the students' acquisition of practical life skills. The revised grading system raises questions about its implications for admission criteria to A-Level, vocational, tertiary institutions, and universities. Additionally, it is unclear how this change will impact Ugandan students' applications to study abroad.
The outgoing grading system marked subjects out of 100 percent, translating scores into distinctions, credits, and passes. Students were ranked into Divisions 1, 2, 3, and 4 or marked as failed, determining their progression or dropout status. Certificates of completion were issued to all except those who failed. According to Uneb, this old system was unfair as it focused solely on final exam performance, neglecting the skills gained throughout the four years of education.
With the new grading system, students' certificates will display alphabetical scores on the front and detailed descriptions of corresponding skills on the back. Additionally, students will receive a separate certificate for project work. Mr. Odongo emphasized that under the new system, there will be no failures. Even the lowest grade, E, will specify the competencies acquired by the student.
The competency-based curriculum was introduced by the government in 2020, amid challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and the lack of instructional materials in many schools. This year, approximately 370,685 students will sit for the UCE exams under the new curriculum, with slightly more female candidates than male. Additionally, 9,250 candidates will take the exams under the old curriculum, including repeaters and those returning to improve their scores.
UNEB is still consulting with stakeholders to gauge the overall impact of these changes on higher education. Mr. Odongo mentioned that result slips under the new curriculum will provide detailed scores for both end-of-cycle exams and continuous assessments, along with descriptions of what each grade signifies.
To support the new curriculum's continuous assessment component, Uneb has developed tools and a digital platform for schools to record individual learners' scores. Despite concerns about teachers' readiness to implement the new curriculum, Uneb has trained at least 15 teachers per school for Senior Three and Four classes and plans to train an additional 500 teachers shortly before the first final exams under the new curriculum. The total budget for this training exercise is Shs4.6 billion.
Mr. Odongo expressed hope that with the availability of funds in the new financial year starting July 1, more teachers, including those teaching Senior One and Senior Two, will receive training to fully integrate the competency-based curriculum and continuous assessment from the beginning of secondary education.
