National examinations for the Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE), commonly known as Senior Four exams, have commenced today, marking the beginning of the assessment calendar. The Primary Leaving Examination (PLE) and the Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) are scheduled for the following month.
Mr. Daniel Odongo, the Executive Director of the Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb), reported that a total of 364,470 candidates registered for this year’s UCE exams. Among these candidates, 118,735 are government-funded through Universal Secondary Education (USE), while 245,734 are privately sponsored. These candidates will be taking their exams at 3,863 examination centers across the country.
Notably, there are 777 special needs education learners and 59 inmates from Luzira prison among the candidates. Mr. Odongo highlighted that Uneb has made arrangements to provide the necessary support for special needs learners, which includes braille answer sheets for the blind, large print questions for those with low vision, and sign language interpreters for the deaf.
The examinations are commencing with the Geography Paper 1 in the morning and Geography Paper 2 in the afternoon. Uneb has successfully distributed the examination papers to all centers across the country, and the distribution to schools will begin 30 minutes before the exams start at 9 am.
Mr. Odongo expressed confidence in a smooth start, stating that the trucks carrying examinations left on Saturday, except those distributed in Kampala. Some stations received their boxes by yesterday, and others were expected to receive them by midnight. He also mentioned that his team had been monitoring the situation since Saturday and had not received any reports of issues related to bad weather or road conditions.
Uneb has deployed 110,000 individuals to manage the exams, including 107,941 invigilators, 1,113 supervisors, and 1,036 security officers to ensure the exams’ smooth operation. Mr. Odongo emphasized the importance of maintaining a high level of integrity during the examination process and warned against any form of examination malpractice.
Additionally, parents were cautioned against fraudsters who claim to possess copies of the Uneb examination papers and attempt to extort money from unsuspecting members of the public. To date, nine suspects have been arrested and arraigned before court, with six of them being remanded to Luzira prison until October 30.
Schools have also expressed their readiness for the examinations. Mr. Augustine Mugabo, the chairperson of the Head Teachers Association in Uganda, reported that he had not received any complaints from schools across the country regarding the examinations.
