Male candidates have for the third year running outshone their female counterparts in the just released Primary Leaving Examinations.

This was the same trend in 2022 and 2023.

The PLE results released on Thursday afternoon indicated that 45,203 boys(12.09% ) passed in division one, 192,546(51.50% ) in division two, 71,951(19.25%) in division three and 36,049(9.64%) in division four.

On the other side, 39,098 girls( 9.46%) passed in division one, 205,043( 49.63%) in division two, 93,333(22.59% ) in division three and 39,507( 9.56%) in division four.

The results show that there was a higher percentage of boys in Division 1 and 2 than for girls.

However, according to the UNEB Executive Director, Dan Odongo, in terms of numbers, there are more girls in Division 2 and at the lower Divisions because of the fact that more candidates registered and sat the examination than the boys.

The 2024 PLE results also show that of the 3328 candidates who sat for the exams, the majority of candidates (51.5%) obtained Division 2.

The UNEB Executive Director however, said there is a worrying trend noticed in a few schools that are registering perfectly normal pupils to be recognized as special needs candidates.

"They are hiding under the category of others; pupils that suffer from health conditions such as Asthma, Epilepsy and Sickle Cell anaemia. The board recognizes that such candidates may get attacks during the examination period," Odongo said.

" However, those candidates do not require any specialized assistance, except extra time of 45 minutes allowed to them. The errant schools have been found to select their good pupils to benefit from the extra time."