Mbale school of the Deaf in shock as results are withheld

Mbale

A sad mood is what welcomes you to Mbale’s School for the Deaf situated about eight kilometres from Mbale Town in Nalondo Village, Busoba Sub-county.

A few teachers are in the staffroom discussing the fate of the results for 38 students that have been withheld by the
Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb) over alleged malpractice.

The deputy head teacher, Ms Esther Mukite, says on Wednesday, a day before the release of the results, Uneb rang her and
asked her to go to Kampala with the students who sat last year to explain something. “But it is difficult for us to get
these students from wherever they are to take them to Kampala since this is a school that caters for the deaf throughout
the eastern region and western part of Kenya, we do not have money,” Ms Mukite said.
She added: “So I asked them to give me a week to look for these students and take them to Uneb.”

Ms Mukite said several parents have rang them asking for the results but that they cannot explain what happened.
“We are stuck, confused and we do not know what happened as a school,” she said.

The deputy head teacher denied any examination malpractice. “Uneb has allowed me to look for a few students to take them to Kampala and I will do this next week,” Ms Mukite said.

A neighbour of the school, Mr Nathan Wakhale, also a parent of the school, says they are in shock as they wait for Uneb’s
decision. “It is unusual for a rural deaf school to cheat. Cheating exams is only in urban institutions. What we know is
that this is malice and we are determined to appeal if our children are not given results. You cannot pay for a child only
to waste four years,” Mr Wakhale said.

While handing over the results on Thursday, the Uneb executive secretary, Mr Matthew Bukenya, said the malpractice was not as a result of leakage in exams but rather on assistance given to the students inside the examination room.
The examinations body withheld results of 28 schools.

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