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Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Ministry of Education and Sports is reviewing admission requirements for nursing, midwifery, and other health-related certificate programs following recent changes in the Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) grading system.
Dr. Safinah Kisu Musene, the acting commissioner for Higher Technical and Vocational Education and Training (HTVET), said that the shift in UCE grading has made it impossible to continue using the previous academic entry requirements.
She added that the Health Training Department, in collaboration with relevant agencies from the Ministries of Education and Health, is developing new admission criteria, which will be announced before July, ahead of the next student intake.
Dr. Musene also clarified that students who sat for UCE under the phased-out curriculum, if any, will still be admitted based on the old entry requirements.
Previously, candidates seeking admission into nursing and midwifery certificate courses were required to have passes in five core subjects—Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, English, and Biology. Additionally, they had to be physically fit, free from any impending disabilities, and at least 18 years old.
The Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) recently moved away from the traditional division-based ranking system. Instead of grading students from 1 to 9 (distinction, credit, pass, and fail), candidates are now assessed using letter grades A, B, C, D, and E, with A being the highest.
According to UNEB, any student who attains at least a grade D in one of the nine subjects sat qualifies for a certificate and is deemed to have passed that level of education. However, for students enrolling in Senior Five, the requirements are stricter—they must have obtained at least a grade D in each subject they wish to study at A-Level. This has left many students unable to progress to the next academic level.
The Ministry of Education is still working to sort out various challenges that have emerged since the adoption of the new lower secondary curriculum and the revised UCE assessment system. For instance, currently, more than 6,900 students who failed to obtain UCE certificates are uncertain about their academic future.
Education experts argue that these challenges stem from the ministry’s decision to roll out the curriculum without fully assessing its potential impacts and putting solutions in place beforehand. As a result, the ministry is now in a reactive mode, trying to address problems as they arise rather than having a well-structured plan from the beginning. Meanwhile, for years, nursing and teaching were among the most sought-after career paths for students who completed Senior Four but did not proceed to A-Level.
However, in 2019, the government restructured the teaching profession, requiring all teachers to hold a degree. This effectively closed the path for Senior Four graduates, as teaching programs became accessible only to students who had completed Senior Six. With teaching no longer an option at the certificate level, nursing remained one of the few viable choices for Senior Four leavers, alongside other Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) courses. The demand for nursing programs has surged in recent years, with thousands of applicants swarming interview centers during the last two admission cycles.
The increasing number of nursing and midwifery applicants has put significant pressure on training institutions, many of which have limited capacity. Some schools have been forced to expand and admit students beyond their designated limits, raising concerns about the quality of training. In response, the Ministry of Education has issued new guidelines, emphasizing that institutions must adhere to their enrollment capacities.
Musene said that the limits are determined by factors such as available teaching facilities, space at training health units, and the tutor-to-trainee ratio. Institutions found to have exceeded their capacity will be required to comply with these regulations to ensure that the quality of training is maintained.
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One would expect the other stake holders to be involved in certain discussions
The medical courses require that part of training itakes place n health institutions:
We have seen some hospital sections to be handling too many students
It is desirable that such numbers do not stretch the burden of running health institutions
Is the capacity of these hospitals to take on very many students being taken into consideration?
That capacity does not only mean physical space:
There should be staff competent to guide students
and enough clients to facilitate adequate contact time / exposure of students for any given task
Last but not least do the recipients of care ( patients) in the facility continue to access quality of care
When the clients start verifying who trained their care givers ( wasomera wa?)
Written by client conversant with topic
It’s a humble request to minstry of education please give us chance to join nursing course .As me I love nursing as a career bt I did my UCE exams when am tatally sick I would av scored what’s need.i have passion in it please help us and we obtain our dreams. I will very happy and greatful if my write is considered.thank u .By Najjuuko Angel.
Thanks you madam l think students with a d,should also be given entrance to nursing institute because they also passed according to the new system of education that was brought by the government where by even there teachers where not taught about the curriculum and the students taught them selves what to do, for example students who sat in government schools deep in villages where they had no access to some requirements like enough text books internet and lack of laboratory equipment to you so please give those students a chance in life madam l will be okay once you also give them a next chance
Please the ministry of education, my name is Mukalo Emmanuel please am kindly requesting that you atleast give us a chance and join please that is my dream course since my child hood just help please and make us smile atleast please just help us and give us a chance am just kindly requesting from you. For really it is my dream course thanks so much, i will be happay when my request is replied may the Lord bless you
The entry requirements should slightly be adjusted to curb the congestion in schools and hospitals.
Kindly make an official communication on whether minimum entry requirement grades were adjusted to a d. Our children missed 1st term because we had been admitted for health science courses only to be canceled. 2nd term is yet here but still no official communication has been issued yet some private schools have started registering students with d in sciences. Please save us the parents who had started depositing on tuition and our kids who missed the whole of 1st term at hsc.
why should not they allow students with D to study yet at first, they allowed them they are supposed to first let this year to pass
please government help our children to study at least for this year please madam help our children and first let this year to pass then this system will start next year please help us
My name is Nabiddo Shadia, and iam humbly requesting from government to help us we students with D in science subjects to also go for nursing courses because some of us that is our career and we were not aware that they only take students with C. They would have told us at first and we continue with A level but right now it is too late for us. Please and please
am not commanding but requesting, please give us a smile on our faces through accepting us to go for nursing with D in science subjects. 
I think they will be good news InshaAllah