Uganda National Examination Board (UNEB) on Wednesday revealed that School examination candidates caught engaging in examination cheating face up-to 10 years imprisonment or a fine of UGX400Million.
Ms. Jeniffer Kalule Musamba,UNEB Public Relations Officer,while addressing Journalists at UNEB Offices in Kyambogo,Kampala, said exam malti-practices have become a thorn in in the flesh of Uganda’s education sector, which is why stringent penalties have been put in place to curb the vice.
She said this year’s Schools National Examinations will be strictly supervised by Districts, City or Municipality employees.
“Last year, examination papers would be transported by Boda Boda cyclists to examination Centres in remote Districts, whereby the examination papers envelopes would be opened on the way and exams leaked before reaching the designated centres”, she said.
She made the remarks during the UNEB two days Seminar with Districts, Municipality and City Education Officers and Inspectors on the Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) 2024 roadmap.
Mr.Dan N. Odongo,UNEB Executive Director,in his remarks, said the theme for this year’s examination season is: “Embracing Security and holistic assessment of learners in a dynamic environment”.
“This theme enjoins all stakeholders in the examination process to take seriously the issue of the security of the examination and preserve its sanctity. Only then shall we be sure that learners who have gone through this process have grades certificates that reflect their true ability”,he said.
Mr. Odongo said the theme further takes cognizance of the need for holistic assessment – as seen in the efforts to assess learners using a variety of methods, including projects and continuous assessments.
“This theme is very relevant to this seminar because the participants (CAOs, DEOs, DISs) are involved in the most sensitive stages in the administration of the examinations”, he added.
He said District Education Officers (DEOs), Chief Administrative Officers (CAOs) and District Education Inspectors (DISs) play oversight support roles in the teaching and learning process.
“They, therefore, have a direct stake in how the learners are taught and assessed to ensure that the products of our education system are able to fit in the constantly changing environment – the impact of Artificial Intelligence, job creation and even ability to learn”,he further pointed out.
Regarding challenges faced in previous PLE examinations, Mr.Odongo said; one of the weak links in the chain in previous field management of PLE has been distribution of question papers from the storage stations to examination centres.
He said because of the laxity in some districts, this critical activity was being assigned to very junior officers with low levels of accountability and in some extreme cases, boda boda riders.
“As a result of this laxity, criminals infiltrated the system and we had cases of breaches of the security of the examination”
“We agreed that this essential duty must be done by senior officers of the Local Government who are more accountable and with a higher sense of duty”, he concluded.
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