Smooth start to S6 exams, officials say

Senior Six candidates yesterday began their Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) examinations with no major incidents reported in most parts of the country.
The candidates sat their History and Mathematics papers in an exercise most supervisors described as peaceful.
For instance, Ms Rehema Babita, the head teacher of Kampala High School, said every activity was done on time.
“The institution I head is day affiliated. And because of that, I continuously urge the students to keep time,” she said.

“Yesterday, they were all within the school premises by 8am and by 8.30am, they were checked before eventually accessing the examination halls. They started their examinations by 9am,” Ms Babita said.
She added that the bright and sunny weather was also very conducive for the examinations. Other learning institutions around the city centre such as Lubiri Secondary School and Old Kampala Senior Secondary School also said the first day of exams was a success.

“In my school, all my 233 registered Senior Six candidates sat for their examinations,” Mr James Mulomi, the head teacher of Old Kampala Senior Secondary School, said.
However, in Greater Masaka, down pour was experienced in several districts in the area, delaying the start of exams.
In some areas, the roads became impassable, which affected the distribution of examination papers. The most affected districts were Kyotera, Rakai, Masaka and Kalungu. Mr Joseph Lutaya, the Masaka District inspector of schools, said the rain, which started at 4.30am ended at about 9.30am, delaying distribution of question papers to hard-to-reach schools.
“In some sub-counties, the roads are very slippery due to the heavy rains. Most of these villages have feeder roads that are currently not in good state and access to schools there is difficult,” he said.

Kyotera District Police Commander Hassan Ihumbire said they had not recorded any cases of malpractice by press time. “The scouts are doing their part and we are providing the necessary security to ensure that the whole month’s exercise goes on smoothly,” he said in an interview. 
Mr John Baptist Kimbowa, the Rakai District education officer, told Daily Monitor that candidates were asked to reside at schools and the morning down pour did not affect them.
Yesterday, some candidates wrote European History (Paper 3), World Affairs History (Paper 4) and Mathematics (Paper 1) in the morning while National Movements and New States History (Paper 1) and Mathematics (Paper 2) were conducted in the afternoon.

In western Uganda, no major incidents were reported. In Kabale, the municipal education officer, Mr Grace Munyambabazi, said the examination exercise started peacefully with all the 14 examination centres receiving the papers in time.
“We have not had any challenges as the examination exercise kicked off. The first paper was picked from Kabale Police Station before 8:30am,” he said.
Mr Moses Bwengye, the Kabale district education officer, said although his office is not directly involved in the transportation of the examination materials, the exercise also started peacefully.

Mr Amos Ahimbisibwe, the head teacher of Bubare Secondary School in Rubanda District, said the exercise was peaceful although the dark clouds in the morning hours were the main challenge for the schools that do not have electricity in their examination rooms.
Mr Gabriel Ahimbisibwe, the Mbarara District education officer, said the exercise started well without any major challenges.
“However, there are reports of students who missed the exams and we are about to ascertain how many they are,” he said.

Mr Ham Ahimbisibwe, the head teacher of Mbarara High School, said the exams arrived on time. 
The same peaceful exercise was reported in eastern Uganda. At Ngora High School and Teso College Aloet in Teso sub-region, the exams started on a good note.
According to Mr Ali Opolot, the head teacher of Ngora High School, there were no delays in delivery of exam papers. He said they are expecting better results from the candidates sitting this year.
In Mbale, the examinations also kicked off with no major glitches.
Mr James Danga, the deputy head teacher of Mbale SS, said: “At Mbale SS, we have not registered any case of malpractice and we pray the exercise goes on peacefully until the end.” 

Mr Samuel Hissa, the head teacher of St Mary’s High School in Mbale, said the examinations started on time and all the 23 registered candidates turned up.
Mr Aggrey Othieno, the deputy head teacher of Mbale High School, said the candidates started exams at 9:15am.
In Tororo, the area Uneb supervisor, Ms Helen Wataba, said in most centres, candidates started writing their exams at 9am. Tororo District has only 17 Uneb centres.

Compiled by Esther Oluka, Al-Mahdi Ssenkabirwa, Ambrose Musasizi, Brian Adams Kesiime, Malik Fahad Jjingo, Denis Edema, Phillip Wafula, Robert Muhereza, Simon Peter Emwamu, Joseph Omollo Fred Wambede & Rajab Mukombozi.