Senior Four examinations start today

More than 300,000 S.4 candidates across the country will commence writing their Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) exams this morning

Today’s exams mark the start of the assessment calender, with the Primary Leaving Examination (PLE) and Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) set for next month.

Mr Daniel Odongo, the executive director of Uneb, last Friday said 364,470 candidates registered for this year’s UCE exams.

Among the candidates, 118,735 are government-funded under Universal Secondary Education (USE), while 245,734 are privately sponsored.

The candidates will write their exams at 3,863 centres across the country.

There are 777 special needs education learners and 59 inmates from Luzira prison, among the candidates.

“The board has made arrangements for special needs learners to receive the necessary support according to their needs. Uneb will provide braille answer sheets for the blind, large print questions for those with low vision, and sign language interpreters for the deaf,’’ Mr Odongo said.

Candidates will begin today with Geography Paper 1 in the morning and Geography Paper 2 in the afternoon.

Mr Odongo yesterday told this newspaper that examination papers were distributed to all centres across the country.

According to him, the centres will start distributing examination papers to all schools 30 minutes before the exams begin at 9am.

 “We expect a smooth start today. The trucks carrying examinations left on Saturday, except those distributed in Kampala. Some stations received their boxes by yesterday, and others will receive them by midnight,’’ Mr Odongo said.

“My team and I have been monitoring the station since Saturday and all seems okay. We have not received any bad reports from the field of maybe bad weather or bad roads. We had anticipated some hitches in Karamoja, but we started distribution in that region earlier,” he added.

Uneb will deploy 110,000 individuals to manage the exams, including 107,941 invigilators, 1,113 supervisers, and 1,036 security officers to ensure the exams run smoothly.

“The board is working with various security agencies and contracted professionals and heads of centres in the examination conduct. While we expect a high level of integrity from those we are working with, Uneb strongly warns against involvement in any form of examination malpractice,’’ Mr Odongo said.

Meanwhile, parents were cautioned against fraudsters who claim to have copies of the Uneb examination papers and extort money from unsuspecting members of the public.

Uneb reported that so far, nine  suspects have been arrested and arraigned before  court. Six of them were remanded to Luzira prison until October 30.

Schools yesterday expressed readiness for examinations.

The chairperson of Head Teachers Association in Uganda, Mr Augustine Mugabo, said he had not received any complaint from any schools across the country as far as the examinations are concerned.

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