PLE: High SST failures linked to Competency-Based Teaching

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) has attributed the high failure rates in Social Studies to teachers’ slow adoption of competency-based teaching methods.

According to the 2025 Primary Leaving Examination (PLE) results, Social Studies and Religious Education emerged as the worst-performing subjects, despite stronger outcomes in previous years. Thirteen per cent of candidates failed the subject; only a few attained distinctions, and nearly one in five did not achieve at least a Credit Five.

UNEB Executive Director Dan Odongo said the poor performance was evident in candidates’ weak responses to questions that required them to apply learnt concepts to problem-solving and unfamiliar situations. He noted that the weakness was most pronounced in social studies, where past examinations largely emphasised recall.

“The 2025 PLE papers recognised the paradigm shift to competency-based learning, and the questions reflected this shift,” Odongo said.

He says that teachers, particularly those handling social studies and religious education, appear not to be adjusting their teaching approaches accordingly. As a result, he adds, candidates had difficulty answering questions that required the application of knowledge, particularly about their communities and the country.

Odongo explained that many candidates struggled with learning areas that demand practical understanding, including factors influencing climate, factors of production, and how communities survive through farming in arid and semi-arid regions. The challenge is not limited to social studies.

In mathematics, many candidates failed to apply percentages in buying and selling, while others struggled to use concepts of distance, time, and speed in real-life contexts.  UNEB also reported that, as in 2024, fewer than 20 per cent of candidates demonstrated higher ability levels in any subject.

English recorded the highest proportion at 18.5 per cent, followed by Mathematics at 16.4 per cent, and Social Studies with Religious Education at 15.9 per cent. About two-thirds of candidates exhibited medium ability across all four subjects, while roughly 16 per cent fell into the lower ability category.

Uganda’s education system has been gradually shifting toward competency-based learning at all levels, with teachers encouraged to adopt learner-centred methods. However, UNEB notes that some educators have yet to fully embrace the change.

Commenting on the results, Education Minister Janet Museveni urged teachers and the public to understand the importance of the transition, saying it is intended to prepare primary school learners for the demands of the competency-based curriculum at the Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) level.

“It is essential for our teachers to adjust their teaching methods to the new realities. The Ministry of Education is implementing various interventions to ensure quality capacity building for our teachers,” she said.

Mrs Museveni added that the ministry has begun reviewing the primary school curriculum to align it with the revised lower secondary curriculum. The process will also reassess how learning at the primary level is monitored and evaluated.

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URN