Hundreds of school heads converged at UMA Hall in Lugogo as Senior One selection exercise began, with more than 1,000 institutions vying to admit the best-performing students.
The two-day exercise, aimed at placing Primary Leaving Examination (PLE) graduates into Senior One, has drawn significant attention from schools and families across the country.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, State Minister for Higher Education, John Chrysostom Muyingo, urged schools to maintain fairness in their selection criteria.
He warned against discriminating against students based on financial status, religion, or gender, emphasizing that the process shapes the future of thousands of young Ugandans.
“It is unfair to say a school is taking only those with four aggregates and then you find those with 15 aggregates and those with six, seven, and eight left out,” Muyingo said.
He also cautioned Universal Secondary Education (USE) schools against operating like private boarding institutions.
“Those schools are supposed to be for day scholars. The aim is to help a particular area. If this continues, we will close them down,” he added.
The Ministry of Education reports that a total of 273,000 students have been admitted to government-aided and private secondary schools.
Overall, 91 percent of the 727,300 PLE candidates who passed will proceed to Senior One, while the remainder will join vocational institutions.
Traditional schools like Ntare, Mengo, and Namilyango continue to set high entry standards, with cutoffs ranging between aggregates four and six.
Gilbert Katushabe, deputy headteacher of Ntare, confirmed: “We are taking between four and aggregate six.”
At Mengo Secondary School, the quota was quickly filled, leaving many hopeful applicants disappointed.
“Last year our cutoff aggregate was seven; this year, the cutoff has remained the same,” said Nakimuli Galiwango of Mengo SS.
An unusual trend has emerged at Nalinyalwantale Girls’ Secondary School, which received numerous first-choice applications from boys.
Lydia Watulo, a school official, explained: “Nalinyalwantale is a girls’ school, but in most cases we get first choice from boys. All those who gave us first choice we have taken, and only sold off the boys.”
The nationwide selection exercise is expected to conclude tomorrow, bringing clarity to thousands of students and families awaiting confirmation of their senior secondary placements.
