The Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) examinations kick off today.
This is the last batch of the national examinations, after Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) and Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) .
According to the press statement from the Executive Secretary of Uganda National Examination Board (Uneb), Mr Daniel Odongo, a total of 98,393 learners are scheduled to sit for their examinations from 2,339 examination centres across the country.
Mr Odongo said 41.8 per cent (41,129) of the number of students are female while 58.2 per cent (57,264) are male. Unlike at the primary level where female candidates surpassed their male counterparts, the trend is different at this level.
Majority of learners slated to sit for UACE examinations are from private schools (Non-Upolet) with a total of 80,746 compared to those in Universal Secondary Education (Upolet) with a total of 17,647.
Mr Odongo said 200 candidates have special needs education (SNE) necessities and 55 require special support personnel such as transcribers and sign language interpreters.
“The board has made arrangements for all these SNE learners to access the necessary support. Like in the previous examinations, candidates with advanced pregnancies who may manifest with challenges, as well as breastfeeding mothers will be accorded an extra 45 minutes,” Mr Odongo said.
Candidates will this morning kick off their exams with European History (Paper 3), World Affairs History (Paper 4) and Mathematic (Paper 1) in the morning and will in the afternoon write National Movements and new states history (Paper 1) and Mathematics (Paper 2).
The exams run from today to May 3.
Mr Odongo cautioned all stakeholders against examination malpractice, adding that the perpetrators would be charged under the new Uneb Act 2021 that calls for stringent punishment.
According to the Uneb Act, sanctions for the offences under examinations malpractice have been increased from six months to five years imprisonment; or a fine of Shs5,000,000, or both.
This applies to any person who neglects his/her duty in preventing/reporting malpractice which comes to their knowledge.
“Any suspects of examination malpractice will therefore be charged under the provisions of the new Act. Members of the public with information that may lead to persons involved in suspected malpractice should call our toll free line. The whistle blower will be protected under the Boards’ whistle blower’s policy,” he added.
“In line with the theme ‘Integrity and security in the management of examinations; the health and safety of learners is a joint responsibility’, the board will continue to partner with various security agencies to ensure security is guaranteed throughout the examination,” he added.
Mr Odongo asked candidates to acquaint themselves with the instructions and regulations contained in the time tables they were given months ago.
“Candidates should be aware that breach of instructions, regulations, involvement in irregularities, misconduct or dishonest acts such as cheating and impersonation may lead to disqualification or cancellation of results of a candidate or all candidates at the centre. We, therefore advise you to desist from any form of irregularities and not to be misled by anyone,” Mr Odongo said.
Observing SOPs
Meanwhile, Mr Odongo has asked all heads of various examination centres to ensure that they observe the standard operation procedures (SOPs).
“I implore heads of centres and personnel involved in the conduct of the examinations to observe all the health and safety measures as guided by the Ministry of Health and endorsed by the Ministry of Education and Sports,” Mr Odongo said.