Education Ministry asked to explain exam mess

Parliament has tasked the Ministry of Education to explain the circumstances under which some pupils did not sit their final exams.

This followed concerns raised by Bunyole West MP, Hon. James Waluswaka, regarding pupils in schools in Butambala and Iganga districts who did not sit their Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) because of failure by the head teachers to pay exam fees.

“When I watched the news last evening, some pupils in two schools missed out on the exams because their teachers reportedly misused their money for registration; most of these pupils are actually girls,” Waluswaka said.

He called on government to take stern measures to ensure that this does not occur in future.

“I urge government to give special consideration to these girls so they can sit their exams. Can you imagine having a whole year wasted,” he said adding that, “the culpable teachers should be brought to book”.

The State Minister for Primary Education, Hon. Rosemary Seninde said that she cannot commit the ministry on what action will be taken but promised to follow up on the schools where this occurred.

Seninde said the matter was brought to her attention at short notice, but attributed it to poor moral values of the teachers and school administrators.

“When these children went to the centres where they thought they would be sitting exams, they found that they had not been registered. So it was something that was abrupt,” Seninde noted.

The Deputy Speaker, Jacob Oulanyah, asked the Minister to present to the House an update on the matter on Thursday.