The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Uganda National Nurses and Midwifery Examinations Board-UNMEB has recorded its second case of examination malpractices in the December 2020 examinations.
According to the results issued on Thursday afternoon at Statehouse Entebbe, the board recorded eight cases of malpractice.
Helen Mukakarisa Kataratambi, the Executive Secretary UNMEB says that although students were thoroughly checked before the start of the examinations, five candidates entered the examination rooms with unauthorized materials which called for the cancellation of their results.
Kataratambi notes that four candidates from the Indian Institute of Health Sciences and Iganga School of Nursing and Midwifery entered with written notebooks in the examination room. Similarly, one certificate candidate from Jinja School of Nursing and Midwifery was found writing answers on a handkerchief.
Two candidates presented forged practical logbooks while one candidate from International Institute of Health Sciences Jinja entered with a mobile phone. The board registered its first case of examination malpractice in the June 2019 examinations involving 13 candidates who received external support.
Besides UNMEB where cheating is still a new phenomenon, the vice is widely spread in all the national examinations. Educationists blame the vice on the current assessment system, decaying moral fibre and liberation of education. While releasing the examination results, the Minister of Education and Sports Janet Kataha Museveni condemned the malpractice and urged the examinations board to uphold the integrity of examinations
Meanwhile, 123 registered candidates didn’t turn up for the final examinations. According to reports, 116 candidates from different training institutions did not return to schools citing various reasons relating to COVID-19, including lack of tuition.
One candidate reportedly died before the examination date while another left school a few days to the examinations seeking spiritual help from her pastor due to social problems. A total of 8,383 candidates from 92 accredited Nursing and Midwifery Training Institutions sat December 2020 UNMEB final semester examinations.
451 registered candidates registered for the diploma exams. Six of them passed with distinctions, 240 passed with credits and 167 registered passes. 12 candidates were ungraded while 26 candidates were absent. Out 7,932 candidates for certificate programs, 1,103 candidates passed with distinctions, 6,100 passed with credits while 437 registered passes. 195 candidates were ungraded and 97 were absent.
These candidates should have sat their final examinations in June 2020 but education institutions were still closed because of the nationwide lockdown owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. Candidates returned to school in September 2020 and completed their respective programs in December, 2020
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