Are Sciences Becoming Too Cheap? A Hard Look at UNEB, A-Level Results and Uganda's Future Professionals
We need to have a serious conversation about the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB). Over the past two to three years, this year included, something has changed in how science subjects perform at A-level. Combinations that used to be reserved for the brightest students are now producing top grades in numbers that would have been unthinkable a decade ago. Meanwhile, arts subjects look harder by comparison and less attractive to students. We should be asking why this is happening and what it will cost us as a country. The Evidence Is in the Results Take last year as an example. BCM (Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics) was the best-performing combination of all, and it did so well that some students with 19 points, just one point short of the maximum, could not get good courses on government sponsorship. Think about what that means. A student scores 19 out of 20 in one of the toughest combinations on offer and still misses out on the course they wanted. That isn't one exceptional ...