The Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) Executive Director, Dan Odongo, has warned the candidates, schools, and other stakeholders against getting involved in examination malpractice. He said this as he was releasing the 2024 timetable for the four examinations on Monday, September 30, 2024.
While addressing the press at the Uganda Media Centre in Kampala, Odongo warned all stakeholders who intend to involve themselves in examination malpractice to desist from that act, saying that the repercussions will be tough.
“Candidates and all concerned must note that involvement in malpractice in one paper shall lead to cancellation of results of all the examinations, and where malpractice is suspected, candidates and all concerned will be summoned to appear before the board,” he said.
The UNEB boss also clarified about the distribution of examination papers using motorcycles, saying that in the recent past, UNEB had engagements with education officials and area and center supervisors, where they were cautioned against the use of Boda Boda riders as distributors of examination papers.
“This is to clarify that the Board is not against the use of motorcycles as a means of transport by the officials distributing examination papers, where it is applicable. We are, however, against boda boda riders being assigned the role of ‘Distributors of the Examination Papers.’ This has facilitated malpractice in the past, and we strongly condemn it,” Odongo noted.
Odongo further read out the different dates for the examination and said that unlike in the past, where they have been having three sets of exams, this time there will be four sets of exams, including the Primary Leaving Examination (PLE), the Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) with two sets of the old curriculum and the new curriculum, and the fourth set will be the Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE).
“The UCE New lower secondary curriculum will start with a briefing on Friday, October 11, 2024, and end on Friday, November 8, 2024. The UCE old curriculum starts on Friday, October 11, 2024, and ends on Friday, November 15, 2024. PLE will start on November 4, 2024, and will end on November 7, 2024. The UACE will start on November 8, 2024, and will end on December 6, 2024,” Odongo added.
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According to Rose Mukasa, the principle examinations officer at UNEB, there has been an increase of 7.8% from last year’s candidature.
“A total of one million, three hundred twenty thousand, and four hundred candidates have registered for the four examinations, and out of the total candidature, 51.1% are females and 48.9% are males,” she said.
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Mukasa also clarified that they have added two more foreign languages, and that’s Latin and Arabic, on top of the already existing three foreign languages, which were French, German, and Chinese.
The Uganda National Examinations Board’s mission is to conduct valid, reliable, equitable, and quality assessment of learners’ achievements in a professional and innovative manner and award internationally recognized certificates.
This year’s examinations’ theme is Embracing Security and Holistic Assessment of Learners in a Dynamic Environment.