First Lady and Minister of Education and Sports, Janet Kataaha Museveni has directed Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) to set a special paper for the 23 Primary Seven candidates of St Christine Primary School who recently missed their final Examinations in Kakumiro District.
“I have directed the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) to set a special paper for the 23 Primary Seven candidates from St. Christine Primary School, Kakumiro district, who recently missed their examinations,” said Janet.
The instruction follows the outcry in response to a petition from candidates and their parents asking UNEB to grant them another chance after the headteacher neglected to provide transportation for them to the examination centre.
It should be noted that on Tuesday, November 8, 2022, a total of 23 students from St. Christine Rwamadongo Primary School in Mpasana Sub-county, Kakumiro District, were late and missed the final mathematics exam.
The pupils missed due to transport inconveniences resulting from the Ebola lockdown in Kakumiro. They had been registered for examinations in a centre 15 km away and their headteacher who ought to have secured for them movement permits as well as arranged for their transport simply switched off his phone and sublimated it like iodine.
By the time the children completed walking that distance, their colleagues were already halfway through the exam.
While addressing the journalists, the UNEB Principal Public Relations Officer Ms Jennifer Kalule Musamba, noted that the candidates arrived 1 hour and 16 minutes after the commencement of the mathematics examination, essentially making them late for the paper, and were therefore not allowed to sit the paper.
This comes from the UNEB regulations bar admission to any candidate who reports for examinations more than 15 minutes after the scheduled beginning time.
Dan Odong Nokrach, the UNEB chief executive, yesterday said the minister had directed that a new examination be administered to them. “The Board (UNEB) wishes to emphasise that this is a one-off event, which will not be treated as a precedent,” said Odongo.
More so in a tweet from the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) this morning, “ED Dan Odongo “It was agreed that considering the exceptional circumstances under which the vulnerable candidates missed their examination, after fulfilling all the requirements, the Board administers another mathematics paper to the affected candidates”.
