Experts say weak performance in Social Studies highlights need for teacher retraining

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Some teachers in parts of the country are raising alarm after the 2025 Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) results. The results revealed that Social Studies with Religious Education (SST) registered the poorest results nationwide.

The teachers interviewed by Uganda Radio Network’s journalist have responded differently, offering suggestions and explaining why the learners performed poorly in the two subjects.

Kintu Yosamu, headteacher of Kisoga Primary School and an SST teacher, said many pupils struggled to interpret questions and reason logically. “We need retooling,” he said, stressing that some teachers themselves lack the skills required under the competency-based curriculum.

Lawrence Lugolobi, a teacher at Nagalama Primary School in Mukono District, highlighted learners’ poor answering techniques. “Without deliberate effort to improve how we teach the application of knowledge, we will continue seeing these disappointing results,” he warned.

Geoffrey Ssenfuma, an SST teacher at Mbale SDA Primary School, linked the weak performance to both learners’ inability to understand questions and the fact that many teachers continue using traditional methods, having never received proper orientation on the competency-based curriculum.

Emmanuel Kintu Kizza, Headteacher of Nakaseta Primary School in Nakaseke District, said Social Studies combines history and current affairs, but both teachers and students often lack knowledge of current events—a factor that contributed to poor performance.

Yusuf Kamulegeya, Luwero District Inspector of Schools, added that initial training for the competency-based curriculum focused on English and mathematics, leaving SST teachers underprepared. “Many still teach using old methods, which can’t enable candidates to comprehend and apply knowledge,” he said.

Esther Namukobe, a primary teacher from Iganga District, observed that learners’ limited literacy and low thinking capacity hinder their ability to respond to analytical questions at the P7 level.

Roslyn Nabuuma, a teacher in Jinja District, attributed the poor performance to cramming habits. “Most pupils rarely attend class to understand what is being taught. They cram a few things during lessons, so if what they memorized doesn’t appear in the exam, they automatically fail.”

Susan Wamala, headteacher of Mukono Boarding Primary School, conducted a detailed analysis of the 2025 PLE Social Studies paper. She identified multiple factors affecting performance: language difficulties, limited content knowledge, and continued reliance on rote memorization by both teachers and students.

Wamala criticized teachers who fail to align lessons with the competency-based curriculum, noting that many still encourage cramming instead of teaching application and reasoning.

She further emphasized that limited language competence remains a major barrier. Learners with restricted vocabulary struggle to express ideas clearly, interpret questions, and construct reasoned responses—a weakness that severely hampers performance in social studies, a subject demanding comprehension, application, and clear articulation of thought.

Wamala’s observations align with UWEZO Uganda’s long-standing evidence showing that many primary school pupils fail to achieve basic literacy even after several years of schooling. Their latest report revealed that only about 2 out of 10 pupils across P3–P7 could read and fully comprehend a P2-level English story. Teachers and inspectors stressed that without targeted professional development, the shift to competency-based teaching in social studies will remain extremely challenging.

They called for urgent refresher courses to equip teachers to implement the curriculum effectively, focusing on helping students apply knowledge in practical, real-world contexts.

The Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) confirmed the trend in results: only 3.3% of candidates achieved Distinction 2, credit-level passes fell sharply, and about 13% failed the subject entirely.

Nearly one in five learners did not reach a credit five grade. UNEB explained that the poor performance reflects a deeper challenge: candidates’ inability to apply knowledge, solve problems, and tackle unfamiliar or practical contexts, which the competency-based curriculum emphasizes.

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