Schools start online admission for S.1 students despite uncertainty on reopening

Several schools have started asking parents to send in their applications for Senior One students using various online platforms.

The Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) last week released the 2020 Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) in which 659,910 of the 734,788 who had sat for exams had passed.

However, barely a week after the release of the results, some of the schools have started requesting parents whose students are eligible to apply for vacancies in S.1.

“Considering the Covid-19 restrictions, the school management has opted to issue the following guidelines for those applying for 2021 senior one vacancies at Mbarara High School,” a circular by the school headmaster, Ham Ahimbisibwe that has since gone viral on social media reads in part.

According to the school, parents applying should send a copy of the official document of the PLE results together with the parent’s name and phone contact to the school email address or to the director of studies.

“The same document may be sent to on what's app as a pdf or a photo to any of the following contacts. The school management shall give timely feedback to both successful and unsuccessful applicants,” the Mbarara High School headmaster says.

However, for Kings College Budo, a PDF application form has been sent out to various parents for them to fill in the details of the students and then send the same to the school.

“Please attach a photocopy of the PLE result slip and any other recommendation documents. Fill, scan and send a clear copy of this form or any other relevant recommendation documents to academics@kingscollegebudo.com as a single pdf file,” the school says.

Uncertainty

The move however comes at a time when there is uncertainty on when schools will reopen after being closed after the onset of the global Coronavirus pandemic.

The Minister for Education and Sports, Janet Kataaha Museveni last week said the reopening still hangs in balance.

“I do not want to talk about something we are not confident about. The decision of closing or reopening schools is not made by my ministry alone. The decisions can only be made by the government after they have been discussed by Cabinet,” Mrs. Museveni said last week during the release of the 2020 PLE results at State House, in Entebbe.

“It is premature to say we will open at this time. To me, I cannot say there is a time we shall open, but in the near future, we shall.”

The Education Minister who also doubles as the First Lady also hailed home study materials provided to learners by government for having a hand in the improved performance in the 2020 PLE.

“Most of the learners that completed PLE in 2020 largely benefited from the home study materials we heavily invested in. We supplemented lessons through radio and television broadcast revisions,” she said, urging parents, local council and district leaders to ensure materials continue reaching the intended beneficiaries as the country continues to grapple with the Covid-induced lockdown.