Oyam District Faces Scrutiny Over Alarming P7 Mock Exam Results

16 September 2025, 9:28 pm

By Eman yonah oruk

The 2025 Primary Seven mock examination results in Oyam District have exposed a troubling decline in academic performance, with 2,439 pupils—representing 43 percent of all candidates—falling into Division U. Out of the 5,702 pupils who sat for the exams, only 98 attained Division One, accounting for a mere 2 percent.

This marks a significant drop compared to the 2024 results and highlights systemic weaknesses in the district’s education system. The majority of top performers came from private schools, further emphasizing the growing disparity between government and private institutions.

Of the total candidates, 3,130 were boys, representing 55 percent, while 2,572 were girls, making up 45 percent.

During the release of the results at the Oyam District Council Room, the District Secretary for Education and Sports, Beatrice Hellen Auma, expressed concern over the poor performance. She urged headteachers to engage their staff and work harder to improve future outcomes.

The breakdown of results is as follows:

• Division One: 98 pupils (2%)
• Division Two: 764 pupils (13%)
• Division Three: 845 pupils (15%)
• Division Four: 1,285 pupils (23%)
• Division U: 2,439 pupils (43%)
• Division X: 224 pupils (4%)

Thomas Bosa Okello, Secretary of the Oyam District Examination Board, noted that the 2025 exams were poorly executed compared to 2024, despite an increase in the number of candidates. He pointed out that most high performers came from private schools, indicating underperformance in government institutions.

Despite the overall poor results, Kamdini Sub-county emerged as the best-performing area, followed by Oyam Town Council. However, challenges such as poor reading comprehension, limited English proficiency, and insufficient exam preparation time were cited as major contributors to the failure.

Joan Ketty Apio, Headmistress of Alworopii Primary School, whose school had no pupils in Division One and only 11 in Division Two, stated that if the exams had been conducted in the first term, they would have implemented more strategies. She emphasized that fear of certain subjects affects performance and called on parents to support school feeding programs and take collective responsibility for their children’s education.

Maxwell Okao, Headteacher of Akucawitim Primary School, whose school had one pupil in Division One and five in Division Two, attributed the poor performance to challenges faced by schools. He said they plan to group learners to improve academic outcomes.

District Education Officer David Adea addressed the tendency to blame teachers for poor results. He urged teachers to focus on correcting errors and called on the government to consider the welfare of educators, including salary enhancements.