More candidates are reported to have missed the Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) examinations, which have entered the third day today.
At Maji Seed Secondary School in Adjumani District, the head teacher, Mr Norbert Evuma, said two South Sudanese refugee candidates were nowhere to be seen despite writing their mock exams.
‘It is possible that they returned to their home country in South Sudan, due to challenges of food shortages in the refugee settlements,’ he said. In Kalungu District, three candidates failed to show up yesterday, after reportedly getting pregnant.
The head teachers said they have been engaging the parents to bring the candidates to sit the exams in vain. Mr Benard Aluma, the head teacher of Greenhill Secondary School, Kalungu, said two candidates out of 196 who registered to sit the exams at the school failed to show up.
At Isaac Newton Senior Secondary School in Masaka City, one candidate out of 177 who registered for the exams at the school missed the papers. Mr Ezra Mulwaana, the school head teacher, said the affected candidate abandoned her studies after writing her mock exams.
‘We tried our level best as school management to advise the girl, but she failed to listen and chose to go with a boda boda rider in Kyotera District,’ he said.
Another case was reported at Mateete Comprehensive Secondary School in Sembabule District, where two candidates missed sitting the final exams.
‘One male candidate was a Tanzanian and went back home after registering, and the other male candidate became unruly and abandoned school,’ the head teacher, Mr Hamza Sendagire said.
In Masaka District, at least two candidates missed sitting their exams.
One is from St Mugaga Vocation Secondary School Kkindu, and the other from St Nazareth Secondary School, both in Kyanamukkaka Sub-county. Mr Charles Ssenfuka, the Masaka District Inspector of Schools, said he got reports of the two candidates missing the papers on Monday. ‘We have instructed the school heads to look for the parents of the affected candidates to know what exactly happened to them’, he said.
In Bugiri District, one candidate from Namasere High School in Buwuni Town Council missed exams on Monday and Tuesday after giving birth last week.
The school head teacher, Mr Patrick Kibuka, said the student had been attending classes regularly but stopped coming two weeks to the first paper after giving birth.
At Olila High School in Soroti City, a 21-year-old candidate, went into labour during her Geography Paper on Monday morning. She was rushed to Soroti Health Centre III, where she gave birth to a baby girl before returning to do her Biology Paper in the afternoon.
After completing her second paper, she returned to the facility at about 5.30pm to attend to her baby. With a smile on her face, the candidate bravely said she will pass and hopes to be a doctor in the future.
Ms Joan Apolot, a midwife at Soroti Health Centre III, confirmed that the candidate arrived at the facility with due labour and gave birth to a baby girl at exactly 1:05pm (Monday), weighing 1.9kgs.
‘She gave birth normally with no tears or C-section,’ Ms Apolot said.
In Koboko District, Nyakuni Bosco, the examinations secretary at Ayume Memorial Secondary School, said one of the candidates abandoned school after winning more than Shs10 million in sports betting and joined the boda boda riding business.
‘It is an unfortunate incident that one of the students is missing. But we ask students to prioritise education to have a sustainable life,’ he said.
Also, seven candidates in Koboko Municipality are said to have missed papers since Monday for various reasons. In Yumbe District, Mr Ismail Ekule, the head teacher of Midigo Secondary School, said one candidate missed the exams due to health complications.
‘One of our candidates, a South Sudanese student, fell sick. The boy is suffering from a chronic sickness that almost claimed his life, but he is still recovering. So, he could not sit the examinations,” he said.
He said there is no possibility for him to sit for the remaining papers
Equally in Aringa Secondary School, Mr Zubair Khamis, the deputy head teacher in charge of academics, said one candidate failed to turn up for the exams.
‘In our follow-up with the parents, we discovered that the student dropped out of school,’ he said. In Lango, the exams went on well in all 20 sampled secondary schools visited by our team in the districts of Apac, Kwania, Kole, Lira, and Dokolo on Tuesday.
In Mbarara District, four candidates missed the exams. They include two boys and two girls from Bukiro Seed School, Rutooma Secondary School, and St Charles Lwanga Secondary School.
Mr Deo Muhwezi, the Mbarara District senior education officer, said one of the candidates, from St Charles Lwanga Secondary School, had a mental health complication that has been persistent, while the other two candidates shifted to other areas, and the fourth one dropped out of school.
‘Some other candidates shifted to Kyaka after registering. When a candidate has registered, even if he is in a private or government school, he has the right to sit for their final exams.’