Kayunga Police has arrested the Director of Khan Seat Wisdom Primary School for stopping a pupil from sitting her final Primary Leaving Examination (PLE).

Phionah Naikesa, a 14-year-old student who was the only Primary Seven candidate at the school was stopped from sitting the examinations by the director of the school, only identified as Ozo.

Rosette Sikahwa, the Kayunga District Police Commander, said that both the school director and the head teacher of the same school were arrested on November 7, 2023.

According to Naikesa’s mother, Jennifer Nazziwa, she registered her daughter to sit the exams in May after paying Shs 120, 000, adding that she was shocked when her daughter was expelled from school on Tuesday due to claims made by the school director that she had not paid Shs 30,000 intended for her welfare during the test time.

When Nazziwa learned about it, she went to the school and asked the director about the extra fee. Ozo, the director, deceived her by saying that he would help her enable her daughter to join senior school next year.

“The director told me he usually plays tricks whereby pupils join senior ones without sitting for PLE,” Nazziwa said.

She then decided to go to the police, who managed to arrest the director. In his defense, Naikesa had not registered for PLE. Nazziwa, however, refutes the claims, saying that she had spent sleepless nights revising, with her mother doing odd jobs to be able to pay her school fees for seven years, hoping she would sit her final primary exams this year.

“I ask the Uganda National Examinations Board to allow my daughter to sit for her papers since it is not her fault as a candidate,” she added.

Dan Bubaale, the Kayunga District education officer, said he was investigating the matter, adding that he would ensure that the culprit is prosecuted.

“We have tried to sensitize parents on how to find out that their children were not registered for UNEB, but it seems they didn’t take our advice,” Bubaale said.

Primary Seven candidates started their final exams on Wednesday, August 8, 2023, with mathematics papers in the morning and social studies and religious education in the afternoon.