SUMMARY:
- It’s now up to parents to determine whether their children are ready or not for the forthcoming UCE exams
- The previous UNEB circular was withdrawn as it had stirred mixed reactions among parents and stakeholders.
- The main issue was resolved, but some stones are still unturned
The government, through the Ministry of Education and sports has allowed candidates who sat their Primary Leaving Examinations in 2018 to register for senior four examinations this year.
According to reliable sources, the decision was made during a meeting between Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) officials and its mother ministry, putting an end to the uncertainty that parents, students, and teachers have been experiencing since the registration window opened.
According to Denis Mugimba, the spokesperson of the education ministry, all learners whether sponsored by the government or not will be permitted to register and sit the O’level exams.
“All learners that sat their PLE in 2018 are allowed to register for this year’s UCE examinations provided that they are fit. The first lady says learners who are eligible for the examination should not be locked out by technicalities,” he said.
“Teachers can provide guidance, but the final decision should be made by the parent and the students. The government will provide more guidance on the subject to ensure that parents and teachers are aware of their responsibilities.” He added.
Mike Masikye Nangosa, the director of examinations at UNEB, says the board is hell-bent on ensuring that all eligible students are registered. The director adds that the board will work on availing the registration portals for eligible students.
In an interview last year, Dan Odongo, the UNEB executive director stated that the board would allow learners who were in senior two prior to the COVID-19-induced school closure to register as long as their teachers deemed them fit for the examinations.
Odongo explained then that the arrangement was intended to ensure that students who focused on homeschooling during the school closure in effort to advance to the next level didn’t see it go to waste.
However, the initial circular from UNEB had barred 2018 primary seven leavers currently under the Universal Secondary Education (USE) system from registering, thus sparking heated controversies since the inception of the registration process on February 2.
The examination authority rescinded its circular that had since stated that a 2018 leaver had to be sponsored, in order to register for the exams, attracting diverse reactions.
Although the ministry has decided on the topic, sources inside the ministry claim that there are still crucial concerns to be resolved, including funds. According to a source who preferred anonymity, the examination would demand extra financing for the senior four examination procedure as a result of this decision.
“The decision has been made, but there are certain details to be worked out beforehand. For instance, there might be a surge in the number of candidates. Normally, we have slightly more than 300,000 candidates at this level, but with this announcement, the number might virtually go up to 500,000. This necessitates the addition of more supervisors and examiners and other logistics. The validation process for centre numbers will also be revisited, since certain centres may end up attracting more students than they can handle,” the source said.
The examination body’s budget might hit a certain ceiling since high numbers are expected at the primary level. This is because lots of parents who had learners in P.5 before the lockdown have considered placing them in primary seven.
Putting this into consideration, Uganda might have a record number of senior four candidates,, given the fact that there is a group of learners who never sat for UCE in 2020 due to COVID-19 restriction, which saw the candidature at this level drop by 3,808 learners than it was in 2019.
At this time however, funding in the education sector has been limited. Recently, Ketty Lamaro, the permanent secretary said that the ministry of Finance had told them to budget using the previous year’s indicative figure, which means that there could be no extra funding towards the ministry and its agencies.
Last year UNEB requested additional funding of Shs 10.465 billion to among other things enable them to handle the increased number of candidates at the primary level and observe standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the prevention of the spread of COVID-19 during examinations. with a lot of explanations, legislators had refused to approve the supplementary.
However, Mugimba says that the education minister has confirmed that government will at all means look for the funds to ensure that learners comfortably sit for their examinations
“The first lady has assured that matters of funding will be handled. This should worry anyone. The examinations are for our students. We shouldn’t delay their learning or progression to the next level when they are due,” Mugimba added.
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