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Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Absenteeism of candidates during national examinations is causing wastage of resources.
According to Uganda National Examinations Board-UNEB, 100 candidates countrywide did not turn up for Primary Leaving Examinations-UNEB examinations.
Dan Odongo, the UNEB Executive Secretary, says that candidates that fail to show up for examinations affect the planning of the examinations body.
“During the school year, we give candidates and parents time to decide whether they want their children to sit for examinations. When they fail to show up, this affects our preparations because we print examinations according to the number of candidates that register for the examinations,” Odongo said.
URN visited a number of schools in some parts and found out that a number of absent candidates were recorded.
In Kampala, more than 20 candidates did not turn up for the examinations. Some of the affected schools include; Bat Valley Primary School, Kitante Primary School, Buganda Road Primary School, Namirembe Parents Primary School, Ebenezer Primary School and Kiswa Primary School.
In Arua, more than 25 candidates did not sit for the examinations. The affected school were Arua Prison P.S, Ave Primary School, Okazara Primary School, Arua Demonstration PS, Mvara junior and among others.
Stephen Oleah, the headteacher of Niva Primary School in Arua, says that two candidates failed to show up and all efforts to trace them were futile.
In Jinja, five candidates were recorded.
Bernard Egesa, the Deputy Head Teacher in charge of academics at Kitante Primary School says that they registered two candidates that did not show up for the examination.
“As a school, we refuse to register candidates that do not want to sit for exams at our school and we thought we did not have any. We discovered they were missing during briefing when we carried out recall and we were told that one of them had gone to another school, ”Egesa said.
According to Egesa, some parents register their children in Kampala but sit for examinations in other schools.
Paul Balilaine, the Jinja district Education Officer says that they do not know why some candidates failed to make it for the examinations.
“We do not know why they did not show up. Most of them were discovered not to have sat for the exam on the day of the examination. But we are trying to get more information on what could have gone wrong,” Balilaine said.
In Kitgum municipality two candidates missed examinations.
The pupils had registered at Faith Alive Nursery and Primary school and St Kizito Memorial Primary school in Pager and central divisions. The two schools use Ojuma Primary School as their centre for examination.
The Municipal Education officer Harriet Atim Okot says information she received reveals one of the girls was involved in an accident and is currently admitted at Mulago National Referral Hospital for treatment.
Atim says another pupil relocated out of her school after the transfer of her father to another district.
She, however, says they haven’t registered any other incidence since yesterday when the exams started adding that all papers were delivered early.
Odongo says that that the board this year, came up with a new policy to cross-check the registration status of all candidates.
“In the past, candidates would register in Kampala and also in their home villages. But this year, we introduced a system to cross-check the registration status of candidates,”
According to Odongo, after registration, the examination body can now sweep through the names of all registered candidates and flags any names that are registered more than one in two different schools.
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URN
