Studying in one school, sitting exams in another

S4 students sit for their past exam. File photo

What you need to know:

Swapped. Many students find themselves sitting for national examinations at different schools from the ones at which they studied

For seven years, Didacus Okoth paid his nephew’s fees at Iganga Boys Primary School, one of the schools implementing the Universal Primary Education (UPE) programme.

The family was anxious about his performance after he sat his final examinations in November last year. And when the Ministry of Education released the 2014 PLE results on January 15, Okoth could not wait any longer but to quickly seek SMS services from his mobile phone to access Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb) results.

He was greeted with aggregate 17 and admits not to have been as happy. But the shocker was yet to come. He was later to learn on his visit to the school that his child’s result slip would not possess his former school name because his recommendation letter read - Canon Ibula Primary School.

“I was not impressed about the results but I was happy that he had qualified for secondary education. I needed a recommendation from the school. It was not until this point that I realised that the boy did not have any entitlement to say he sat his PLE from Iganga Boys where he had been since Primary One but rather a pupil of Canon Ibula Primary School as the certificate indicated,” Okoth told Saturday Monitor.

Okoth wondered why, as a parent, he was not consulted about the school’s decision to have his child registered under a different school for the national examinations.

“It was unbelievable. I wondered what might have gone wrong. On inquiring, Fred Kasisa, the headteacher, asked me what my problem was. He mockingly told me he could write a letter to Uneb to have my nephew’s certificate read Iganga Boys,” Okoth says.

“He asked me what I expected out of the boy; meaning he was aware of his actions. Such headteachers, who do not consult parents on issues related to their children apart from demanding for school fees, should be disciplined.”

In Okoth’s scenario, Kasisa explains that the candidate’s parents always agree to such arrangements that once a child admitted is academically weak, they can be registered in other schools at P7. However, Okoth denies having been consulted on the matter.

“There are instances where pupils do not meet our standards. We agree with parents that we register them in other schools,” Kasisa said.
He added that effective this year, they will start administering pre-registration exams so that candidates who do not meet the minimum standards do not proceed to register for Uneb exams.

Alfred Niwagaba, the headteacher Little Angels Primary School in Ntungamo District, explains that schools act on pressure from parents, who want them to get good grades in national examinations.

In his experience, he shares that at one point, his school had all their candidates in First Grade except one. However, their best had scored Aggregate 8 in PLE. This prompted parents with children in P6 to take them to other schools that year.

He urges that many parents think when they take their children to schools which had many candidates with good grades, it will be automatic for their children to perform well, which is not the case.

“Because parents expect a lot from schools, they put pressure on us. When they see children in Second Grade, they brand those schools as poor performers. They resort to taking their children to schools getting 100 per cent First Grade,” Niwagaba reveals.

Another reason fronted for registering learners in other schools is their ability to grasp what they are taught. According to Niwagaba, children considered weak require a lot of attention from the teacher. As a result, they drag the rest of the class behind, hence affecting the time the curriculum can be covered.

“With brilliant children, the teacher is able to cover topics within a short time and this creates enough time to revise and do tests,” Niwagaba observes.

UNEB speaks out

Hamis Kaheru, the Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb)’s spokesperson, says the body only gets to know eligible candidates for national examinations through school centres registered with Uneb. However, he cautioned parents to be vigilant when their children join candidate classes so that they avoid “last minute shock”.

But Lenard Wasswa, a parent at Our Lady of Africa Seconday School, Namilyango, said their access to school premises as parents is limited during examination period. He too was shocked to learn that his daughter was taken to do her S6 examinations from another school last year without his consent.

However, Uneb has eased it for both parents and candidates this year with the introduction of online registration.

Uneb’s online registration official Peter Wakabi-Waiswa says this is going to be a little easier for parents whose children have been bounced from sitting the national examinations at their respective schools even when they have paid.

“Immediately after registration, students and parents can easily access their names on Uneb’s database to confirm whether their respective schools have registered them and quickly solve the situation before it is too late,” he says.

Education ministry speaks out

We are aware that there are schools without Uneb centre numbers. But those schools, with the advice of district school inspectors, are helped to find schools with centre numbers where they can register their candidates.

But we also know there are arrangements where some schools grade their students as weak and brilliant. These schools remain with the best students because they want to be ranked best in examinations. The weak candidates are registered at other schools. This is unhealthy competition.

We do not encourage it as it demoralises parents and candidates. You cannot get all your candidates to pass with 100 per cent every year. Where do you get this?
Daniel Nkaada, commissioner primary and basic education.