Kasese District Local Government officially released Primary Leaving Examination (PLE) results at Kasese Polytechnic on 5 February 2026, with a 92 percent overall pass rate, Kasese District posting its strongest performance in five years — a milestone that education leaders say reflects growing commitment.
A total of 13,078 pupils sat for the 2025 PLE across government-aided and private primary schools, marking a steady increase in candidature and participation. For thousands of families, the results represent hope — access to secondary education, relief from poverty cycles, and proof that investment in basic education can yield results .
Female candidates accounted for 53 percent of all candidates and slightly outperformed their male counterparts overall. Education officials say this reflects the impact of sustained advocacy for girl-child education, particularly in rural communities where dropout rates were once high.
More than 7,800 learners attained Division One and Two combined, positioning them competitively for secondary education placement. Private schools continued to dominate Division One results, contributing 33 percent of top-grade scores, while government-aided schools showed strength in the middle divisions — a sign of broad-based improvement rather than elite success alone .
Despite the positive headline numbers, district leaders were candid about lingering weaknesses. Addressing stakeholders, Kasese District Chairperson Hon. Muhindi Elphazi Bukombi expressed concern over the 909 candidates who remained ungraded, describing it as “a preventable failure.”
He announced plans to personally visit the worst-performing schools, alongside members of the district executive, to engage parents, teachers, and local leaders in recovery strategies.
“This is not about blame,” he emphasized. “It is about accountability and collective responsibility.”
Bukombi also renewed calls for hard-to-reach allowances for teachers in Kasese’s difficult terrain, warning that delayed submissions at technical levels continue to deny teachers critical motivation — a gap he linked directly to performance disparities between schools .
Schools such as Buwatha Primary School, Kyaminyawandi, and Kanyampara SDA emerged as top government-aided performers, producing high proportions of Division One candidates. In the private sector, Global Vine, Ibanda Progressive, and Ndongo Baptist schools led the pack.
Yet the contrast with underperforming schools many in Busongora North was stark. High numbers of ungraded results were concentrated in communities grappling with poverty, child labour, weak school management, and long walking distances to school .
District Education Officer Thabugha Ernest challenged headteachers to reclaim their role as community leaders and public ambassadors for their schools. He urged stronger parent engagement, better supervision, and resource mobilization at school level, noting that academic success increasingly depends on partnerships beyond the classroom.
Faith-based organizations were singled out for praise, with district leaders crediting them for improving discipline, infrastructure, and learner retention in some of the most underserved areas.
The five-year trend shows a steady rise in pass rates from 73 percent in 2020 to 92 percent in 2025 underscoring progress at district level. But education officials caution that without addressing systemic issues such as teacher motivation, school feeding programs, infrastructure shortages, and community conflict, gains may stall .
As Kasese celebrates improved results, the message from education leaders , leaders appreciate partners who have supported improving education standards in the district like Ripple Foundation, UNICEF, Enabel, among others for the efforts.
