Teachers, UNEB or pupils: Who is to blame for exam cheating?

Mar 12, 2002

t pains so much to sit for an exam hoping to join secondary school the next year, only to be hit by a bolt from the blue that your exams have been cancelled. This is what happened to over 12,000 pupils who sat for last year’s primary leaving examinatio

It pains so much to sit for an exam hoping to join secondary school the next year, only to be hit by a bolt from the blue that your exams have been cancelled. This is what happened to over 12,000 pupils who sat for last year’s primary leaving examinations. There have been lots of reactions to the cancelling of these exams.Who should be blamed for this cheating? Should they be the 12 or 13-year-old pupils? Their teachers ? UNEB? The New Vision collected some views from educationists and parents. Below are some of them. Dorothy Hyuha, chairperson, committee on social services does not put any blame on the young pupils. Instead, all her anger dwells on the headmasters, supervisors and invigilators who perpetuated the malpractices. “I think the Ministry of Education should set up ways of punishing whoever was involved in this scam. They should take legal action against them,” she said. Asked if she thinks that the over 12,000 pupils should be given complimentary exams, she thought it right, but she feared it might set a very bad precedent in Uganda’s examination.Mr. Khidu Makubuya, minister of education, has no kind words for headteachers involved in cheating: “We are going to evoke the law and these headteachers, teachers and invigilators will be dealt with accordingly,” he said. He took away the blame from the pupils, but explained that they are also part of the scam. He seemed to say, “Ignorance of the law does not mean innocence,” The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Mr. Francis Lubanga has called for the investigation of headteachers, supervisors and invigilators involved in cheating. He partly blamed the problem on district education officers: “If such schools wished to engage supervisors from secondary schools, they they must forward those names to me as permanent secretary and I will liaise with UNEB for action,” he said. Mrs. Sarah Nkonge, Kampala districts secretary for education, seems to blame UNEB over the problem. She calls upon parents to organise themselves and sue UNEB over the scandal: “All aggrieved parents should come together and sue UNEB, who are the in charge of the exams,” she said. Amidst the accusations, some of the affected school heads deny any wrong doing. Samuel Byamukama of Katwegye primary school in Mbarara district blames UNEB for the cheating. “I want to assure you that the best cheats are never caught,” he said. He added that his school was accused of cheating and their exams cancelled, when actually there was no cheating at all.Are the parents angels in this problem? Mrs. Sarah Bukirwa says no: “In some schools, parents are asked to contribute a certain amount of money to enable the school pay for the exams. This money is either given to the supervisors to help out the pupils directly, or to corrupt UNEB officials, who leak out the exams,” she charged. “UNEB is supposed to arrest its corrupt supervisors and its corrupt employees. The pupils should be Given supplementary exams. after all they are the least involved in the cheating process,” she said. Sam Agaba of Makerere University urban planning department does not blame the pupils: “Headteachers are the main players in this scam. They entice the poorly paid invigilators and supervisors with thousands of shillings,” he charged. He called for strict supervisory work at the time of the exams by UNEB. “Every school wants to be mentioned among the top, thus attract more pupils, while every parent wants his child to pass and join the good school. it is a vicious circle,” he said. Agaba does not see it necessary for the 12,000 to sit for supplementary exams: “This will set a bad precedent,” he urged. He said that cheating has been here for many years, but none of the nabbed exam cheats has ever been allowed to sit for supplementary examinations. Patrick Kawesa, chief internal auditor Luweero district, blames UNEB and school heads for the scam: “There are so many loop-holes in the whole examination process,” he charged. Supervisors are poorly paid and surprise drop ins by UNEB are very rare. “What do you expect if a supervisor is enticed with over sh0.5m? How is this amount comparable to the ten thousand paid to him by UNEB?” he asked. Tony Mukasa Lusambu, headmaster St. Peter’s primary school Nsambya, and secretary of the Uganda teachers’ association, has kind words for UNEB, but anger for his fellow teachers, the supervisors and invigilators. “UNEB acted rightly by cancelling the exams, because this is its work,” he says. Turning to the headmasters and supervisors, he said, “They are the ones who talk to the supervisors, entice them with money and before the cheating begins. Both headmasters and supervisors are responsible for this scam,” he charged. Mukasa advises the pupils to go back to P.7 and study. Matthew Bukenya, UNEB chairman, agrees with Mukasa. He says that UNEB did what it was supposed to do without fear or favour: “It was proper for us to show whoever was involved in this scam that cheating is not right. The children have known this at an early age, which is good,” he said. According to UNEB, setting new exams for the 12,000 pupils will be setting a bad precedent. Of the over 25 teachers, parents and educationists The New Vision talked to, most of the blame went to the headmasters, supervisors and invigilators. UNEB was next in line in the bashing. parents were blamed more than their children, who got none of the blame. However, nobody supported the issue of pupils sitting supplementary exams.ends

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