Being candidates doesn’t exempt you from school rules, UNEB warns

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Uganda National Examinations Board-UNEB says it will neither sympathize with a candidate nor get involved in a case where he or she is subjected to disciplinary measures by the school on account of indiscipline.

Dan Odongo, the UNEB Executive Director said that being a candidate does not exempt a learner from adhering to school rules and regulations. Thus he added, the punishment meted out to a learner who violates the established regulations will not be of interest to UNEB.

Odongo made the remarks during a press conference organised by the board ahead of this year’s Uganda Certificate of Education-UCE examinations which are scheduled to begin on Friday with briefing of candidates.

The Executive Director clearly stated even if a school has decided to suspend or expel a learner during the course of the examination, the candidate will not be shielded by UNEB.

“Each school has a code of conduct which must be followed all the time. We have cases where learners have tried to burn dormitories for whatever reason. Should UNEB shield such a person? Of course not! What if he or she threatens the life of others? Our candidates are not above the school regulations,” said Odongo.

The comment comes at a time when several schools in the country are battling indiscipline incidents mainly involving candidates thus evoking the wrath of school authorities including suspension of the errant candidates and in extreme cases, barring them from sitting exams.

For instance, Rev. Richardson Balinda, the headteacher at Nyakasura school recently suspended all Senior Four candidates following what he described as causing a lot of confusion in the school. In a letter to the parents, the head teacher clearly noted that innocent learners could be re-admitted only after providing names of ring leaders.

Away from indiscipline, the board has advised that schools should not bar candidates with school fees balance from sitting examinations or pulling them out of examination rooms. According to Odongo, a payment plan should be negotiated between the school and parents earlier in order to prevent candidates from being inconvenienced on the day of the exam.

He added that in cases where no settlement is done, the school can work with UNEB to come up with measures of recovering their fees after the examination is done.

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