The Parliamentary Committee on Education and Sports has applauded the Uganda National Examination Board (UNEB) for prioritizing the assessment of the Special Needs Education (SNE) candidates, which resulted in an increase in the number of candidates.
They also praised UNEB for curbing examination malpractices and asked the Ministry of Finance to provide support for the board’s unfunded priorities.
The Committee made these appreciation remarks on January 10, 2024, after the board, led by its executive director Dan Odongo, presented the budget framework paper for the financial year 2024/2025-2027/2028, defended its budget, and informed the board that they have a number of unfunded projects.
“Examiners are the least funded in the region, and because of that, there is a high turnover of good and experienced examiners. This makes it necessary for UNEB to constantly train new examiners, which is also costly to the board,” Odongo said.
Odongo noted that, while the sensitization about SNE candidates is positive, it comes with a cost, and the increase requires a large number of people who have to be facilitated.
The Parliamentary Committee hailed UNEB for putting in place stringent measures that have helped to reduce the cases of examination malpractice.
Additionally, they commended the board’s effective communication strategies put forward by UNEB to create public awareness, which have contributed to controlling examination malpractices.
“We are pleased with the board’s work, which has uplifted the standards of education in the country, and specifically the policies on gender and SNE candidate assessment as a priority,” the committee members said.
Odongo informed the Committee that the board this year is transitioning from rote assessment to competency-based assessment in line with the board’s goal of contributing to increased quality and relevancy of assessments and certification for national transformation, where the board requires resources to effectively handle the transition process.
2580 candidates with Special Needs Education (SNE) requirements sat for their final Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) in 2023, compared to 2,316 who sat for the same set of exams in 2022.
