UNEB to withhold results of fees defaulters
Mr Waiswa George chatting with fellow senior four candidates before going for exams. Photo by Yazid Yolisigira
What you need to know:
- When a student pays to register for examinations, all the money goes to UNEB, though there are other expenses incurred by schools in order to run examinations.
- Stationery, chemicals and apparatus for practical papers, transport for picking and dropping exams, furniture, meals, salaries for staff and similar costs are borne by the school. This can only be possible if students pay fees
The Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) has warned parents against refusal to pay school fees for students in candidate classes, after clearing the UNEB registration fees.
“The Board does not encourage the impunity of parents not paying school fees. So, the practice of candidates claiming a right to sit UNEB examinations merely because they have paid registration fees is wrong,” UNEB spokesperson Mr Hamis Kaheeru said in a statement.
This follows recent arrests of some head teachers on grounds that they had blocked school fees defaulters from sitting examinations.
Mr Kaheru said that if all candidates were to be guaranteed the right to do examinations regardless of whether or not they have paid school fees, many schools would not be able to conduct the examinations.
“When a student pays to register for examinations, all the money goes to UNEB, though there are other expenses incurred by schools in order to run examinations.
Stationery, chemicals and apparatus for practical papers, transport for picking and dropping exams, furniture, meals, salaries for staff and similar costs are borne by the school. This can only be possible if students pay fees,” he said.
UNEB argues that although schools may, in some instances allow some students to sit examinations before completing payment of fees on the understanding that they will clear the debt afterwards, many schools have lost revenue in the long run.
“Once students have sat examinations, there is no incentive to pay especially among those who feel that they may know they have failed,” Kaheeru said.
As such, he revealed that the board will withhold results of students who will have failed to pay fees by the time the final results are released.
“The results will be released only after the balances on school fees have been paid. Schools are expected to submit details of such candidates to enable the board isolate the results before the general release,” he added.
He called on parents who are genuinely experiencing financial constraints, to dialogue with the school and agree on a payment schedule which allows the final installments to come after examinations.
On cases in which parents have rushed to police to arrest head teachers of such centres, the board cautioned police against taking rush action, as it has disrupted the examination process, causing delays.
In two such cases, in Pajule (in Pader district) and Bugiri, police arrested the area supervisors who were responsible for issuing out question papers and receiving answer booklets.
