Why Examination Centres risk License withdrawal!
Kampala, 22 October 2024
The Ministry of Education has issued a statement that compels headteachers and school owners to allow all registered students to sit for their final exams.
In a decisive move to end the persistent practice, Permanent Secretary Kedrace Turyagenda has released Administrative Circular No. 9-2024, citing the UNEB Act 1 of 2021, which explicitly reserves the power to cancel a registered candidate’s examination participation solely for the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) “The authority to prevent a registered candidate from sitting examinations does not rest with school administrators” it says in part.
The Circular was copied to the Minister Of Education Hon. Janet K. Museveni, Ministers of local Government and Public service, and all district leaders.
In 2022, the Minister of State for Primary Education Joyce Moriku Kaducu had issued an almost similar directive to allow students sit for exams before completing fees but this did not bite as there were continued reports of students missing exams on account of the same.
In this new circular, the PS has advised schools to instead submit names of defaulting candidates to UNEB for limitation in release of their results. The PS added that the other deterrents would be withholding the result slip and certificate upon the release of the results. “Failure to adhere to these guidelines may result in disciplinary action, including the nullification of examination center licenses’’ she added.
Reports have, in the past, increasingly highlighted the plight of students unable to sit for exams due to tuition debts. Just last week in Kiryandongo, over 45 candidates from Kibanda Secondary School were prevented from taking their first paper until district leadership intervened.
School administrators have in the past defended their actions, citing financial pressures and the need to recover unpaid fees, coupled with the need to address other school services.
However, the new circular makes it clear that such practices violate the law. This announcement comes as a relief to parents who hadn’t committed payment of their fees and were facing harsh economic situations, coupled with high school fees costs.
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Image Credit: KFM