The Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) examinations have kicked off peacefully today across the country as Senior one students also made their way back to school after over a year under lockdown.
According to the harmonized academic calendar released by the Ministry of Education, this is the last batch of the national examinations, after Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) and Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE).
Candidates today morning kicked off their exams with European History (Paper 3), World Affairs History (Paper 4) and Mathematics (Paper 1) at 9:00 am and will in the afternoon sit for the National Movements and new states history (Paper 1) and Mathematics (Paper 2) for Arts and Sciences respectively.
In a press statement on Sunday released by Mr Daniel Odongo, the Executive Secretary of Uganda National Examination Board (Uneb), a total of 98,393 students will this year sit A-level examinations from 2,339 examination centres across the country.
Odongo said 41.8 percent (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.
The 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.
This year’s exams will run from today until May 3 when the last paper will be sat.
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 offenses 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.
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.
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