KAMPALA | An excellent 93 percent of candidates who sat the Uganda Nurses and Midwives final examinations last year have passed.
Results released on Thursday shows that 3,958 out of 4,255 candidates from the 126 nursing and midwifery training institutions have passed the 2023 final semester examination for the nurses and midwives.
The Uganda Nursing and Midwives Examination Board said of the 54,865 candidates that registered for the December 2023 examination, 506,609 were continuing candidates progressing from semester to another, and 4,255 were in the final semester.
Of the 4,255 candidates, 2,910 were female and 1,345 male.
Of the 4,255 candidates, 2,808 were for certificate programmes, while 1,447 were for diploma.
Under the certificate programmes, nine candidates passed with distinctions, 905 with credits, 1,636 with passes, 231 ungraded and 27 were absent.
Under the diploma programme, 132 candidates passed with distinctions, 1,147 with credits, 129 with passes, 32 ungraded and seven were absent.
However, there was a notable high number of candidates who didn't write the exams due to lack of tuition, officials said.
While presiding over the release of the exams, Chrysostom Muyingo, the state minister for higher education, asked school proprietors to explore other mechanisms of collecting fees to give an opportunity to less privileged learners to sit exams.
"You teach them,prepare them and the time of harvest you lock them out because of fees," Muyingo said.
"Some get to an extent of selling land, their most precious property, to study for all those years. That's why I call upon all school and institution proprietors to explore other mechanisms of getting school fees from students who are struggling to pay so that they get a chance to sit the exams."
The Uganda Nurses and Midwives Examinations Board will deliver results to nurses and midwives council to facilitate immediate registration of successful candidates for practice.
The 2023 examinations were the 12th series of semester examinations conducted by the board fromDecember 4-15.