30-year-old defies Ebola lockdown to pass exam

A 30-year-old has joined hundreds of the PLE candidates in celebrating success after defying the Ebola lockdown setback to pass all his papers.
Mr Tom Tumusiime, a father of three children and resident of Lusalira Village, Kibalinga Sub-county in Mubende District, scored Agg 27 with a Credit 6 in English, Pass 7 (Science), Pass 7 (SST) and Pass 7 in Math at Kirume Church of Uganda Primary School.

He now dreams of progressing to the next level to pursue his life target.
Last Friday, Tumusiime reportedly failed to have his breakfast after several of his peers reminded him about the PLE results that were due for release.
“It is not that some of the people wished me well, but many thought that I was just a joker and would bring home nothing. I was determined, I will have to continue to the next level,” he said on Saturday.

Mr Lucky Steven, his class teacher, said Tumusiime could have scored better grades but he had to trek a distance of about 9kms to school. He added that the candidate grew tired and was absent on several days of the school term.
“Tumusiime had hoped of scoring higher grades during the first and second term of Primary Seven, but the hopes were slowed down by the outbreak of the Ebola virus and the lockdown restrictions. I encouraged him not to drop out since he had already registered for PLE,” he told this paper on Saturday.
 
Late for exam
Because of the heavy rains, Tumusiime nearly missed the first exam after arriving at the examination room about 30 minutes late. Luckily, the heavy morning rains had disrupted the examination progress across the district and several exam centres began the first paper about one hour after the official time.
Tumusiime in an earlier interview with this paper had indicated that he had always admired his children who are able to communicate in English.
He previously worked at Mubende Hospital as a porter. My inability to communicate in English was a big setback. I had no opportunity for promotion because of the language barrier.
 
Performance
The Mubende District Education Officer, Mr Asaph Kaabunga, said despite the Ebola lockdown challenges, Mubende posted better results compared to the past two academic years.
“It is unfortunate that we are unable to give a detailed exam result since some of the schools are yet to receive their respective results. But we have received more than 80 percent of the results that reflect a better performance in all the subjects,” he said.