Kabale District Education Officer (DEO) Moses Tumwijukye Bwengye has confirmed that 33 candidates out of the 3,467 pupils who registered for the 2025 Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) did not write their paper.
The PLE was completed on Tuesday, November 4, 2025.
Bwengye explained that the reasons for absenteeism are varied. Some pupils reportedly dropped out of school, left home to engage in child labour, got married, or lost interest in continuing their studies after registration.
In certain cases, school administrators themselves were unaware of the pupils’ current locations.
He noted that the district education department, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, has launched investigations to determine the root causes of the absences.
The aim is to implement long-term measures to reduce absenteeism during national examinations.
“We are committed to identifying the underlying challenges causing learners to miss their final exams and to implement measures to keep more children in school,” Bwengye said.
