Female candidates have outshined their male counterparts at the principal level pass (A-E) across all humanities subjects, physics, and the general paper in the 2024 Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) results.
This trend, which has been consistently observed over the years, was once again highlighted as the Minister of Education and Sports, Janet Kataha Museveni, officially released the results.
The Executive Director of the Uganda National Examination Board (UNEB), Daniel Odongo, confirmed that 48 candidates sat for the exams from Luzira Upper Prison, comprising 45 males and 4 females.
The results of 38 examination centers have been withheld, pending investigations into possible malpractice.
Despite the impressive performance of female candidates at the UACE level, male candidates had generally outperformed them in earlier education stages, such as the Primary Leaving Examination (PLE) and the Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE), which were released earlier in the year.
This year’s UACE results also revealed a drop in overall performance amid an increase in the number of candidates sitting for the exams.
UNEB has urged the government to strengthen Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education to bridge performance gaps and enhance competitiveness in critical fields.
Education stakeholders are now calling for further analysis and policy interventions to build on the achievements of female candidates while ensuring balanced academic performance across all subjects and educational stages.