The Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb) has released the roadmap for the forthcoming Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) which is slated to kick off this Friday with the briefing of candidates. UCE is the first set of examinations to be conducted by the national examinations body.
According to the roadmap that the website has seen, the board is slated to conduct a briefing of security officers who will guard the exams on October 12. Examination distributors, who are authorized to transport examination papers from the Uneb center in Kyambogo to various centers across the country, will be briefed on October 13. The board is also expected to address a press conference on October 13 before briefing chief scouts on October 14.
According to a source from Uneb, who preferred anonymity, the security shall be taken through a civilian approach to managing examinations and learners. Meanwhile, the source said scouts and examination distributors will be briefed about their roles, what to find at schools and the roles of head teachers.
“These will also be cautioned against being compromised as they distribute and monitor exams. We shall put them on notice that should they be compromised and participate in malpractice, they shall face the law individually,” the source said.
A total of 349,449 (175,875 male and 173,574 female) are slated to sit for the UCE examinations. These will be briefed at their sitting centers on October 14. The board has encouraged parents to attend the briefing of candidates.
The roadmap indicates that the distribution of UCE papers will commence on October 15 and phase two of examination distribution is slated to take place on October 16. Prayers for the candidates are lined up between 14 to 16 before the candidates sit their first paper on October 17, starting with Mathematics Paper One.
The spokesperson of Uneb, Ms. Jennifer Kalule, said details on the number of security officers, scouts, and invigilators will be issued to the media on Wednesday. She, however, said the board usually distributes examinations to police stations across the country which are manned by both security and Uneb officials. Schools later pick up the exams from the police stations.
Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) are the second set of examinations that will be conducted after UCE. PLE candidates are slated to be briefed on November 7. They will sit their examinations on October 8 starting with Mathematics and Social Studies and completing on November 9 with English and Science.
Meanwhile, the Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) will start briefing candidates on November 18 and write their papers on November 21 starting with Mathematics and completing on December 9.
More than 1.28 million learners have been duly registered to sit for the three sets of examinations. Of the 1,280,172 learners slated to sit for the examinations, 751,336 (56 percent) are funded by the government while 564,836 (44 percent) are privately sponsored.