As Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) examinations began on Monday, a 21-year-old candidate in Ntungamo District was left devastated after discovering she had not been registered to sit her final exams, prompting local authorities to call for an investigation.
Precious Kembabazi, a student at Ruhanga Seventh Day Adventist Secondary School in Itojo Sub County, said she learned only last Friday that her name was missing from the Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb) register.
‘I showed up for briefing and this is when I knew that I am not registered with Uneb after the deputy head teacher made the revelation,’ Kembabazi said.
She said the school administration had earlier suspended her for leaving the premises without permission, but later told her to return for the candidates’ briefing.
‘They had told me to come on the briefing day, which I did, but they had not registered me to sit the exams. I really don’t know whether this was intentional,’ she added.
Kembabazi, who completed her Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) at Kagongi Preparatory Primary School and later joined Mama Janet Girls’ Secondary School in Nyakyera before transferring to Ruhanga SDA SS in Senior Three, said her aunt delayed returning her P.7 result slip – a key registration requirement.
‘Having been allowed to do mock exams and continue studying like other students, I thought things had been resolved,’ she said, adding that: ‘I was surprised to be told that my aunt brought the result slip late and that I could not be registered. No one informed me about it.’
The sixth child of Herbert Ruhinda of Kayenje in Rweikiniro Sub County, Kembabazi said she wants justice.
‘My parents may wish to give up, but I will not. I need justice, but I also need to complete this level. We are told that if you do not sit the exams, you go back to Senior One. I have been in class for four years – I need to complete this level,’ she said.
Ruhanga SDA SS deputy head teacher Jonathan N. Kamugisha confirmed that the student was not registered because she had only a photocopy of her PLE pass slip.
‘Her family said it may have been confiscated by her aunt where she stayed. The aunt was arrested but could not produce the slip in time. She only brought it in August when even late registration was done,’ Kamugisha said.
Ntungamo Resident District Commissioner Mariam Kagaiga ordered a full probe.
‘If there is anyone to be arrested, we have to arrest them,’ she said.
‘This girl comes from an area where finishing Senior Four is a miracle. If the parents, school or relatives are involved, they must be held accountable,’ he emphasized.
Rweikiniro Sub County has the district’s highest school dropout rate, with 75 percent of girls failing to complete Primary Seven.